Surrounded by Darkness
by StarnightX
Summary: Mrs.Malfoy seeks help from an Elvira, after her son Draco is given his dangerous task from the Dark Lord. Can she make any difference or cause trouble in the process? DracoxOC, Draco/OC; 6th book.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Back in the Harry Potter Fandom, I've been writing a lot of Naruto Fanfictions and decided to come back to HP****.**

**Don't have much to say, but the next chapter will probably be up by the end of this month or the beginning of the next. Check for my profile for updates/progress reports on upcoming chapters. Please Review!**

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Chapter 1

"Mother, I don't think this is necessary," stated a light blond hair teenage boy as he followed his mother, through the dark streets of some town the boy knew not the name of.

"What if Bella's right? What if Severus can't be trusted?"

The boy rolled his eyes. "His help isn't even necessary. **He** chose me for the job. I'm perfectly capable of doing it by myself."

"I'll feel more at ease if we get her help as well."

"I highly doubt that she would want to help us…" The boy snorted at the thought.

"She accepts all paying customers. That's what I've heard," The boy's mother whispered as the two of them approached an empty lot in between two muggle stores. However, the moment the boy and his mother set foot onto the lot, a decent looking 2 story building appeared out of thin air. His mother knocked on the door, but no one came. She knocked again.

"Mother, it's the middle of the night. I don't think anyone's going to come to the…" The boy snapped, but stopped mid-sentence, before he could finish, and turned his attention to the door, which was now open. In the doorway stood a girl, who looked about the same age as him, about 16. Her looks, he decided, were above average. She had long dark brown hair that reached the middle of her back, very bright blue eyes, but her skin looked much too pale. From the looks of it, she just got of the shower, since her hair was wet and she wore a white bathrobe.

"Are you in need of assistance?" She asked politely.

"Yes. I have a job to ask of the Seer, Celina Elvira," The boy's mother replied. "Is she present?"

The girl smiled, revealing her pearly white teeth. "Of course, right this way." She held open the door and showed them inside. The boy had expected a somewhat extravagant interior and was slightly put out when he realized how…ordinary the inside of this building looked. The only interesting feature was the fact that the ceiling was actually more like a window, allowing them to look up at the night sky.

Upon entering the building, he entered a room, which looked like a strange mix of a store and a sitting room. On the left side, the shelves were filled with various potion bottles and potion ingredients, along with price tags. On the right side, was a table with 3 potions brewing, which was positioned beside a fireplace. In the middle of the room was a table. Two chairs were on the side closest to the door and one chair was on the other side. Strange enough, there were three cups of tea already set on the table. Along with the tea, there also was a basket of short bread cookies.

"Well, go ahead and have a seat," the girl invited them in, pointing to the two chairs at the table. "I'll be back in a few moments." She disappeared behind the curtains, which was behind the cash register at the back of the room. She then reappeared, but this time with a crystal ball in hand. She sat across from the blond mother and son. "So, what would you two like help with?"

The boy looked at the girl with a new found shock upon his face, which he hid quickly. This girl couldn't be the "great" Seer Celina Elvira. She appeared to be no older than he was. His mother seemed to also be a tad bit surprised as well. "I'm sorry, but I heard that Celina Elvira was older, around 105 years old. Please… I really need her help…my son he…"

The girl's eyes changed from those of kindness to those of poorly hidden annoyance. "Don't worry; you're not the first one. My grandmother died 6 months ago. I was her apprentice and now her successor. My name is Celina Elvira and I assure you my grandmother has taught me well."

The woman looked skeptical, but shook off the feeling and tried to explain why she and her son were here. "Yes…well…you see…my son…he's…"

"Could I see your son's arm?" the young seer asked suddenly, not allowing the mother to finish her sentence. The boy looked at his mother, who nodded, and pulled, up his left sleeve of his robe to reveal the Dark mark. The boy expected her to flinch, or gasp, or contort her face in disgust, but she simply sat back in her chair and drank some tea. "So? What do you want me to do for you this evening, Mrs. Malfoy? And yes I know your name. You realize that even if I removed the mark, it wouldn't mean he'd be free from Lord Voldemort's grasp, right?"

Both the boy and Mrs. Malfoy flinched upon hearing the Dark Lord's name. "The…Dark Lord…he asked him to….to…perform an assassination."

Celina raised an eyebrow. "So do you want me to provide the poison? Give him liquid luck? What do you expect me to do for you?"

"I want you to help him in any way you can…he's…he's just a boy…" Mrs. Malfoy began to sob and Celina sighed.

"Drink some tea; it'll calm your nerves."

Mrs. Malfoy obeyed, but it took a moment to regain control of herself. "Please…go to school with Draco. Make sure he's safe. Make sure he can carry out the deed the Dark Lord asks of him."

Draco's eyebrows furrowed when he saw Celina grin widely. "A client has never asked me to do such a thing before. How am I supposed to earn my living if I leave my shop for a whole school year? Furthermore, do you really expect me, a girl who's but 16 years of age, to protect your son?"

"They say that the Elviras are known for their Seer powers, it runs in their blood. They also say that Elvira Seers are all-knowing and because of this they handle even the tightest situations with great ease. Most everyone who has come to your ancestors for help has received it and received it well, as long as they pay a proper price. Please…you must help my son."

Celina's finger traced the rim of her teacup, as though in deep thought. She spoke again, but this time to Draco, "Draco, my love, who is it you're planning to murder?" Draco dared not answer. She's probably loves the old fool just like every other damn witch and wizard all over the world. The moment he mentions his name, Celina would probably turn both him and his mother into the ministry.

Celina set down the cup and sighed. "Why is it that my clients never answer my questions? I wish only to serve you; I am, in a sense, a humble servant, who wishes to carry out her job perfectly. So shouldn't I be able to know who Draco's target is?" Her words are answered by silence. She sighs, "I suppose I'll have to guess. There are only two people at Hogwarts that the Dark Lord would want to kill that I can think of. Those people would have to be Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore, am I not correct?" Celina noticed Draco flinch involuntarily at Dumbledore's name and grinned in triumph. "I'll make one thing clear. I'm not going to perform the deed for him."

"Of course not," Draco's mother said quickly. "Just make sure no one is suspicious of Draco; help him if he needs help. Do his homework if he doesn't have time to. Make it seem as though Draco is going about his usual business while he's at school. Please…just help him…not get caught."

"By the ministry or by Lord Voldemort?" Mrs. Malfoy didn't answer her question and avoided eye contact with Celina. "It's **so** obvious that your will to follow the Dark Lord is dwindling; I can see it in your eyes. You went into the darkness on your own free will and now you can't find the light that will lead you out." Celina helped herself to some of the cookies on the table. "You know, I'm surprised that the Dark Lord even **chose** your **son** for the job. I highly doubt he'll be able to succeed."

Draco stood up and slammed his fists on the table. "I'm more than capable! He chose me because he knows I'll be able to get it done!"

"Draco!" Mrs. Malfoy began to scold at her son, but Celina held up her hand to silence her. On her face she wore a huge grin, which only made Draco angrier.

"Well, aren't we a little…over confident? Let's think about this rationally, shall we? You are an underage wizard, who is going to attempt to murder Albus Dumbledore, who is probably the greatest wizard of our time…"

"You don't know what I'm capable of." Draco glared.

"Ignorance keeps you in the dark and the dark may lead you to your death…" Celina said, but amusement was obvious in her voice. A light laugh escaped her pink lips. "Oh all right, I'll help you out, but I'm warning you, once you go further into darkness, the harder it gets to see the light. And don't think mummy or daddy will be there to get you out, they're probably just as lost as you'll be, yeah?" Celina then turned to his mother. "All right, let's talk about payment. First I would like you to buy all my necessary school supplies, since **you** are the one requesting that I attend school with him. Second, I would like you to pay me 200 galleons a month while I'm at Hogwarts. I think that is more than fair. Of course, I'd like some information from you as well."Celina wrote rather hurriedly on a piece of parchment and gave it to Mrs. Malfoy to sign. "Just sign and the deal is done. I swear to my grave that I will not rest until I complete my job," she said, grinning all the while.

"Wait…what kind of information?" Mrs. Malfoy asked, fearing that the girl wished for information pertaining to the Dark Lord. "What do you plan to do with this information?"

Celina sighed. "What kind of shop do I run here? Do you know, Mrs. Malfoy?" She asked, tilting her head to one side as Mrs. Malfoy shook her head no. "My shop is open to people who are in dire need of help. If you want something from me, you'll only be able to get it if you find my shop. The only way to find my shop is if you **need **that something. Pure desire for that something doesn't cut it and therefore you could never find my shop on pure desire alone." She looks from Mrs. Malfoy and Draco, who sat quietly. "It's alright if you two don't understand. I don't expect either of you to, so I'll give you an example. Let's say a person stumbles upon my shop, in great need for **information**? It would be bad service if I wasn't able to provide their needs. Do you understand now?"

"What kind of information?"

"I'll just ask you some questions and you answer what you want. If I find your information to be enough, then I'll agree to help your son." Mrs. Malfoy glanced at Draco before nodding and Celina found herself smiling once again. "Excellent. Well, first off, why do you think the Dark Lord chose your son to carry out such a…dangerous task?" Mrs. Malfoy looked over at her son, before looking back at Celina.

"I'd like to answer these questions in private."

"That's perfectly understandable," Celina said understandingly and stood from her chair. Draco opened his mouth in protest, but Celina cut him off."Why don't we go to the back room then? Draco, you can browse my shelves if you want."

The two woman left, leaving Draco alone. Draco looked around the room at the curious packages and bottles sitting upon the shelves. Allowing curiosity to get the better of him, he stood to take a quick look at a few potion bottles on the walls. Some of them were very common, such as potions to cure a cold or to change hair color. Some however were more uncommon, such as the various poisons in small viles. One caught his eye labeled, Deadly Night, in very neat cursive. His fingers twitched and he snatched the vile off the shelf and slipped it in his pocket. It could come in handy.

Just as he sat back down, his mother and Celina returned to the room. Sitting in their seats, Celina pushed the contract to Mrs. Malfoy, which she signed the paper and handed it back to Celina. "Wait, dearest Draco must also sign."

"I'm not signing that bloody contract."

"Oh yes you will," Celina said in a sing-song voice. "Magical contracts are powerfully binding and once you sign I cannot break any promises I made to you and your mother in the contract, including keeping silence of your situation. If you don't want me to…I don't know…tip off the press your plans to assassinate Dumbledore…then you'll sign the contract."

Draco sneered at the dark brown hair girl, but signed the contract anyways. The moment he lifted quill from the paper, Celina's right hand began to glow and on the back of her hand was a black pentagram. She held it up so both Malfoys could have a better view. "This is the symbol showing that our deal is now complete and that there is no turning back. From here until the end of Draco's school year, I am nothing but your loyal servant and will follow your every order."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yes! I finally found time to write and post another chapter. It'd be pretty sweet if you checked out my profile...and please review to tell me what you think of the story thus far. **

**Interesting Fact: This fanfiction is somewhat inspired by Kuroshitsuji, an anime/manga. **

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**Chapter 2**

"Will you stop it? You're drawing more attention to us." Draco grumbled as he, his mother, and Celina Elvira walked down Diagon Alley.

"I can't help it! I haven't gone shopping with people in a long time!" Celina twirled on the spot in her turquoise sun dress, which was quite contrasting with the black robes Draco and Mrs. Malfoy wore. "Hey, I heard there was a new joke shop around here. I haven't checked that out yet, we should go together!"

"Hold it, we are here to gather school supplies and next we must get you two some school robes," Mrs. Malfoy reminded her, which Draco found odd because his mother spent the last thirty minutes fawning over the latest witches' fashions with Celina a few minutes ago. It sickened Draco how quickly his mother was able to trust Celina and treat the girl as though she was her own daughter.

"Awww, come now Draco," Celina said suddenly jumping on his back and forcing the corners of his lips to smile. "Let's try to being happy!"

"Get off me!" Draco tried to shake the girl off, but Celina had his dark robes in a death grip.

"Dray…" Celina pouted, but regardless respected Draco's wishes and got off him. She twirled around, quite happily and continued on her way down Diagon Alley after his mother. Draco paused for a second before continuing on as well, his eyes narrowed. There was something off about this girl; this girl named Celina Elvira, but Draco didn't know what it was quite yet. For example, why would she, a member of a pureblood family, be awing over such simple things found in Diagon Alley, such as juggling rats or a firebolt on display? Also, since she is his own age, why doesn't she attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? After all, she is a pureblood, or at least that's what she claims, and just about every child of any pureblood family Draco knew attended Hogwarts. Due to the fact he has never seen her at Hogwarts before, he safely concluded that she must have received an education at home, but why?

Draco was drawn away from his thoughts, when the bells of a door opening caught his attention. He, his mother, and Celina had entered Madam Malkin's Robe Shop. Celina spun slowly on the spot, observing the shop with eyes filled with wonder. "Wow…there are so many robes!"

"It's a robe shop. Of course there are robes," Draco scoffed at her childishness.

"Well, usually if I need robes, I order them by owl," She explained, still looking around in awe, her eyes pausing on a rack of dress robes. "Look here Draco!" Celina sifted through the rack and revealed a handsome set of dark green and black dress robes. "I'm sure you'd look great in them, but then again you'd probably look good in anything, wouldn't you?"

A little taken aback by the sudden comment, he simply ignored it and said. "Stop calling me 'Draco'. I'm no friend of yours."

"Then what should I call you?" Celina asked, her demeanor noticeably changing. "Would 'Master Malfoy' be more sufficient?" She suggested, her voice carrying a tone of sarcasm.

"Actually, I believe I like the sound of that," Malfoy replied smoothly, flashing her his trademark smirk.

"Oh, I'm so glad you approve, Master Malfoy." Celina shot him a plastic smile.

"Now Draco, I hardly think such a thing is appropriate," Mrs. Malfoy commented disapprovingly.

"It's nothing Mrs. Malfoy. Whatever my master wants, I'll happily give him." Celina assured Mrs. Malfoy, but her last statement carried a sort of suggestive tone, which Draco didn't fail to pick. His right eyebrow rose slightly, but Celina continued to smile as though she had said nothing wrong. "Isn't that right, Master Malfoy?"

"Of course, I'm glad to see you know your place." Draco truly was happy…with the fact that Celina acknowledged the fact that she held a lesser status than him and that their relationship was definitely master and servant. He loved it, his new position of authority. If Draco said jump, Celina must ask how high, after all it was part of the contract he, his mother and Celina signed. Then again, this made Draco suspicious of Celina, after all, the contract did not seem very advantageous to her, so why would she agree to it? Who in their right mind would give so much power to a random stranger? Could she have an ulterior motive?

He glanced over at the dark brown haired girl now browsing through a rack of woman's dress robes. She didn't seem all too dangerous, but that night when they made the contract, she definitely seemed to be in command of how things were done.

Madam Malkin finally came out from the back of the shop and immediately spotted Celina looking at a pair of light and dark purple dress robes. "You have a nice eye there, Miss…"

"Elvira. I'm Celina Elvira."

"Nice to meet you Miss Elvira and of course it's nice to see you and your son in my shop as well Mrs. Malfoy. How may I help you all today?"

"Celina is here to buy some school robes," Mrs. Malfoy said, her hands on Celina's shoulders. Draco sighed and sat in a conveniently nearby chair, knowing that Celina's robe fitting would probably take a while.

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After for what seemed to be an eternity, Celina had finally finished up and bought her robes. Mrs. Malfoy had become distracted and began dressing her up as if she was some sort of doll. As tiring as it was, Celina had to admit that it was rather fun and strangely enough Mrs. Malfoy seemed as though she was enjoying herself as well. Was this what it was like for a daughter to spend time with her mother? Celina didn't know and will probably never know. "Women," she heard Draco mutter as he stood up from his seat and shoved Celina aside to fall into a pile of old robes.

Instead of getting angry, she made herself quite comfortable in that pile of robes. After being on her feet for the majority of the day, she thought that lying in a soft pile of clothing wasn't that bad of an idea. She watched Madam Malkin work her magic and she began fitting Draco in his robes. Celina couldn't help but smile as Draco's face pulled a frown when he saw his mother bringing him more robes to try on. Celina was very grateful that Draco and Mrs. Malfoy had agreed to the contract and signed. This was the first time she has been in Diagon Alley in 5 years. The feeling of not being locked away in her home seemed to fill Celina's heart with so much joy, she thought she would burst. For a whole year, one whole year, she'd get to spend all that time away from her home, away from her shop. One whole year…

Her eyelids grew heavy and slowly came to a close; she didn't even realize that a pair robes was thrown on top of her.

_Through the sky she flew, upon her back majestic white wings. For a moment Celina wondered where she was going, but decided that her destination didn't matter. The wind blowing through her dark brown slightly curly hair and the warmth of the sun kissing the back of her neck, she had never felt so free before in her life. Who cares where she'd go? She was free…however the wonderful emotion didn't last for long when her back felt as though it was aflame. In the astonishing pain, her wings stopped beating and down she plummeted to whatever it was that awaited her below._

_She was now surrounded by darkness. Celina tried to get up but found that her hands were in chains and lunged forward when whoever was at the end of that chain gave it a hearty tug. _

"_Do you forget who it is you belong to?" Asked the eerily recognizable voice. Again, he yanked on the chain and Celina fell to her knees. "Who do you belong to?"_

"_I belong to you," Celina answered obediently, knowing if she had remained silent, she would have to endure a lashing or maybe worse. _

"_You are not free. You're simply…lucky that these customers needed you for such a long period of time, a year in fact." Not knowing what else to do, Celina found herself nodding, agreeing to the voice. "And what more, before you know it," The masculine voice now whispered in her ear. "That year will be gone in a flash and you'll have to say goodbye to these 'new masters'. And then I'll be able to have you all to myself, just like always." He licked her ear "affectionately", but Celina felt sick to her stomach._

"_Don't do that. Don't touch me."_

"_Are you ordering me what to do?" Her master asked. His hands now appeared from behind her. Starting at her hips, his hands made their way up her body, past her waist, stopping just below her soft breasts. "I can touch you all I want." He said the tone of his voice fairly suggestive. He now rested his head on hers and breathed in the scent of her hair. "I can smell it, your fear. I love it when you get scared."_

_Celina felt paralyzed, but what could she do anyways? He was more powerful than she was. There was no point in trying to resist him; if she did the consequences would not be merciful. "Say something, my dear Celina. Why don't you tell me what you're thinking? Or better yet, why don't ya tell me how you feel?" He laughed. "Do you like that family? The Malfoys that was their name wasn't it? You're so mean Celina; you always like everyone else more than you like me," Her master faked sounding hurt, his fingers now grazing her cheeks. "Oh well, you'll always be mine."_

"Oi! Oi! Wake up will you?" Celina jolted up only to bump heads with a red haired teenage boy. She was still a little shaken from her "dream" and didn't notice that there were two other teenagers standing beside him, until one of them spoke.

"What are you doing sleeping in a pile of robes?" asked the boy with jet black hair, vivid green eyes, and glasses.

"I sort of….just fell asleep?" Celina responded not sure of how she could possibly explain herself. She stood up and looked around the shop; Draco and his mother were nowhere to be found. "Where's Draco?" She wondered aloud.

"Draco. As in Draco Malfoy?" Now it was the girl with the somewhat bushy brown hair that spoke.

Celina nodded and the three friends exchanged looks. "What?"

"It's nothing," the boy with glasses said, but by the tone of his voice she could tell that he was suspicious of something. "Do you go to Hogwarts? I haven't seen you around."

"Oh, no I don't. But I'll be attending Hogwarts this year."

"So you've been homeschooled up until now?" The bushy haired girl asked.

"Uh…yes."

"What were you doing with Malfoy? Are you two related or something?" The red haired boy asked.

"Why are you all asking me such personal questions? I don't even know who you are," Celina finally said with a smile, though she was getting rather annoyed with these three's questioning.

"Hermione Granger," The girl answered promptly.

"Ron Weasley."

"Harry Potter." Celina's vibrant blue eyes rested on the dark haired boy with glasses, calculating in her mind how these three Hogwarts students fit into the equation. The three didn't seem all too bad, a tad bit nosy, but all and all Celina saw nothing wrong with "befriending" them, especially Potter. Then again, that might not be the wisest of decisions without talking to Draco first.

"Ah hem," Hermione coughed, bringing back Celina's attention. "What's your name?"

"My name?" Celina cocked her head to the side and smiled. "I don't really think you need to know."

"Why not? We told you our names," Ron asked, eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"It's not like your guys' existence depends on knowing my name. Besides, you're probably going to find out later. I don't see any need in telling you my name." She paused for a moment before speaking again. "So you guys go to Hogwarts too? Good friends with dear Draco?" Celina asked, her tone of voice slowly becoming slightly sarcastic.

Ron open his mouth, but Hermione beat him to it. "Why would we answer your questions when you don't answer our own?"

"I do believe I answered two questions all ready. I think it's only fair you answer mine."

"We are not friends with Malfoy." Harry answered her, his voice evident with disdain.

"To be honest I'm not very surprised."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know. I'm just not." Celina replied and the four teenagers stood in a momentary silence, Celina's eyes on the trio and the trio's eyes on her. "I suppose we could become better acquainted once we go to school. I look forward to meeting you three again," Celina said surprisingly very sincerely, taking her leave, but paused in front of the door when Hermione called out to her.

"What's that on your right hand?"

Celina calmly held out her hand to examine the black pentagram, appearing as though even she didn't know what it was. She dropped her arm to her side again and grinned back at Hermione. "You have quite an eye there Granger; it's a tattoo." And with that Celina exited Madam Malkin's shop.

After saying "excuse me" to a rather large man standing outside of the store, Celina made her way through Diagon Alley, wondering where Mrs. Malfoy and Draco had gone. Needless to say she was rather shocked when a hand grabbed her wrist and jerked her back. She whirled around to see a rather upset Draco. Before Celina could say anything Draco snapped at her. "Where the bloody hell were you! Mother and I have been searching everywhere!"

She could only smile at Draco's anger. "Well, it was you two who left me at Madam Malkin's fast asleep."

Draco knew she was right, but ignored her true statement. "That's beside the point..."

"You know who I ran into at Madam Malkin's? Harry Potter." Draco's grey eyes narrowed and Celina's smile slowly transformed into a malicious grin. "Yeah, he's quite a handsome one, don't you agree? You wouldn't mind if I…"

"Absolutely not." Draco interrupted, not allowing Celina to finish her sentence.

Step by step, Celina walked closer to Draco. Her fingers trailed up his chest and before resting on his cheek. "Would that make my master unhappy? Could my master be jealous?" Her bottom lip pouted ever so slightly as she said this.

Draco slapped her hand away and a sneer was now clearly shown upon his face. "Do not touch me and don't think of doing anything funny with Potter."

"Are those simply suggestions?"

"Those are orders."

Celina sighed, crossing her arms. "If my master wishes it, then so may it be. Is there anything else **Master** Malfoy?"

"Yes actually there is. I want you distract my mother for a while; I have business to attend to at Borgin and Burkes."

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you? It's a pretty dangerous place to be especially for a sweet little boy like you…" Celina teased.

"Just distract her." Draco ordered with a finality sort of tone before stalking and Celina laughed. "As you wish, Master Malfoy."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Haven't updated in forever. -_-' I'll try updating more often. I used some stuff from the actual book and sorry if it seems a bit boring. Just trying to move the plot along. A review or two would be nice.

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Chapter 3

"Why are you wearing one glove?" The blond 16 year old asked the girl who accompanied him.

"Oh…well, I thought it'd be best that I should hide the pentagram. Some girl in Diagon Alley already asked about it… Hermione something."

"Granger?" Draco asked, voice full of poison.

"I think so…she had rather bushy hair…"

Draco groaned, but before he could say anything, his mother pulled him into a hug. "Mother…"

"Draco, please stay safe for me okay?"

"Yes, I know…"

"Don't fall behind in school work…"

"I know. Will you let g…"

"Remember to wash behind your ears…"

"Mother, will you let go! Geez…" Mrs. Malfoy obeyed her son's wishes and turned to Celina. "Please take care of my son."

"Don't worry. Your son is in good hands."

"C'mon Elvira," Draco pulled her away.

"Finally," Draco murmured as he stepped onto the train. He was glad he was finally rid of his nagging mother.

Celina followed the relieved young man, waving behind her to Mrs. Malfoy. "I think your mother is very sweet. She obviously cares about you very much."

"Too much."

"Have the last few weeks been **that** horrible? Jeez, I didn't know you could be so overly dramatic…" She grinned.

"Please Elvira. I'd rather not hear anything from you." He growled, pushing his way past the crowded train corridor to his usual compartment. The last few weeks hadn't been horrible. They've been miserable. Much to his despair, his mother had become quite affectionate towards Celina and had invited her over for tea one too many times. His mother had even taken out his old baby pictures. He had never been so mortified in his life…

"Draco!" Draco snapped out of his thoughts, when he heard a familiar feminine voice and felt someone wrap their arms around him.

"Pansy…"

"Draco…who's this?" The Slytherin 6th year noticed the brown haired girl, who followed Draco into the compartment.

"I'm Celina Elivra." Celina took the liberty of introducing herself, knowing that Draco probably wasn't in the mood to. She was even so polite to stick out her hand for a handshake. Needless to say, Celina wasn't surprised that this black haired girl didn't accept the gesture of friendship.

"Pansy Parkinson," She said tight lipped. Pansy turned to Draco. "We've been wondering where you've been Draco." It was then that Celina took notice of the other people in the compartment. Two of the larger boys sat across from each other, in seats closest to the door. Besides the one reading a comic book, sat a fairly handsome black boy. Coincidentally, the only seat open was next to him, near the window.

Celina proceeded to sit next to him and almost immediately turned her attention towards him. "You're quite the handsome one aren't you?"

"Celina," Draco snapped with a warning tone. She sighed and leaned against the window. Just then the compartment door slides open. "What do you want?" Draco asked whoever opened the door.

"Ummm…." Started a nervous voice. "I'm supposed to give these to Blaise Zabini and Celina Elvira."

"Well hand them over then." The young boy, who looked no older than 12, handed over the two envelopes to Draco with shaking hands. As soon as Draco took the envelopes, the boy quickly excused himself from the compartment. Both Celina and the black boy, Zabini, took the envelopes from Draco and looked at each other with questioning looks on their faces. "Aren't you going to open them?" Draco asked, but it seemed more like that he demanded that they opened them that very minute.

Celina carefully opened the envelope and read: _Celina, I would be delighted if you would join me for a bite of lunch in compartment C. Sincerely, Professor H. E. F. Slughorn_. Slughorn…Celina recognized the name. He had been a customer at her about a year ago, while her grandmother was still alive. She was surprised that Slughorn had invited her to lunch, but she was more suspicious than anything else. How did he know she was on the train? As far as she knew, the only person who'd really know about her enrollment would be the headmaster…but then again, judging by the contents of the note, Slughorn may have been informed of it as well, since he is apparently now a Hogwarts teacher. She glanced over at Zabini's note to see that he too received an invitation.

"Does anyone have the time?" She asked.

"No," It was Pansy who answered her.

"Oh…" Celina then looked out the window."Well, judging by the position of the moon and the stars…."

"It's daylight out," Draco scoffed.

"…I do believe it's lunch time!" Celina concluded, ignoring Draco's statement. "Come Zabini my love, we must get going." She stood up and pulled Zabini up as well.

"And where do you two think you're going?" Draco asked and Celina threw her invitation at him. "Some Professor Slughorn fellow invited the two of us to lunch. We'll be sure to tell you how it goes Draco. So don't get too jealous, kay?"And with that Celina exited the compartment, half-dragging Zabini behind her.

"Will you let go of me?" Zabini tugged his arm away from Celina's grip. "Who are you anyway?"

"I already said that I'm Celina Elvira."

"Yeah…but how do you know Draco?"

"Oh…well…we're good friends. That's all."

"Right…" Zabini obviously didn't believe her. "So you're pure blood right?"

"Yeah…why?"

"Just making sure."

"Ah…" They walked in silence to compartment C.

Upon entering the compartment, they were greeted by a loud booming voice. A very large man stood from his seat and walked towards them. "Finally! It looks like Mr. Zabini and Miss Elivra are here. Sit down, will you? I'm not sure if you know these three fine young people here?" Slughorn gestured to two boys and one girl already seated in the compartment. "Here we have Cormac McLaggen. This is Marcus Belby. And this fine young lady is Ginny Weasley." Zabini took no notice of the three other students, but Celina gave a nod of acknowledgement.

"Hold on," she started. "You wouldn't be the sister of…oh what was his name? Ron…I think it was…yes, are you Ron Weasley's sister?"

"Yes, how do you know him?" Ginny asked, wondering who this person was and how she knew her brother.

"Not really, but I believe we met briefly at Madam Malkin's a few weeks ago…" Celina trailed off and Zabini gave her a look.

"Well, only two more to go. Then we can eat," Slughorn clapped his hand together.

"Oh? Who else have you invited, Professor Slughorn?" Celina inquired, since nobody else did.

"Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter." The old man answered and Zabini coughed. Celina smirked. Ginny frowned at the other two's reactions. Just then the compartment door opened and Slughorn jumped to his feet. "Harry, m'boy! Good to see you, good to see you! And you must be Mr. Longbottom." Slughorn then proceeded to introduce everyone again. They began to eat and the professor began to…interrogate, for lack of better word, everyone.

Celina still had no idea what they were all doing there or why Slughorn specifically invited these 6, not including herself, students. "Excuse me Professor," Celina began, after Slughorn finished talking to the Longbottom boy. "It is splendid having lunch with you, but is there a specific reason why you invited us all here?"

Slughorn laughed. "Sharp girl you are, Miss Elvira. Tell me, how is your Grandmother these days? I haven't heard from her in a while…"

"She passed away about half a year ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I dare say she lived a long life. She has helped me few times in the past. May her soul rest in peace…"

"If only…" Celina smiled sadly, gazing into her tea cup. The compartment was uncomfortably silent for a moment before Slughorn spoke again. "Well, it's nice to see that you're finally going to school."

"I didn't really have much choice, seeing as how my grandmother served as my teacher."

"Your grandmother was a very smart witch, but then again they say all Elivras are rather bright and very good at divination as well. I wonder how that is…" Slughorn tried egging her on to reveal a little more about her family.

"That, Slughorn, is my family's secret."

Slughorn sighed. "I see you are an Elvira through and through. So secretive…Well now, Harry Potter! _Where_ to begin? I feel I barely scratched the surface when we met over the summer! 'The Chosen One' they're calling you now!" No one spoke and all eyes were on Harry, Harry Potter, the boy who lived…what an interesting character. Celina knew not what to think of him. She of course couldn't depend on Draco's description of Potter, which was definitely biased. And judging by the way Zabini coughed when Slughorn talked about rumors of Harry having powers "beyond the ordinary, meant she probably wouldn't be able to ask him either. So the only option she had left was to befriend Potter, despite how Draco may feel about it. Celina didn't know what it was, but she had a gut feeling that Potter could be a possible hindrance in Draco's mission. After all one must keep their enemies close.

The rest of the afternoon dragged on dreadfully slow. Slughorn would go on and on about Lord knows what and every now and then she and Zabini would glance at each other. Both wondered when they could finally leave the compartment. In her boredom, Celina ended up looking at Harry, who'd always look away first when their eyes met. It wasn't until the sun began to set that Slughorn finally freed them from the boredom. Zabini glared at Harry, while Celina gave him a wink, before following Zabini back to their compartment.

"What a waste of time," Zabini murmured.

"I know…I thought he'd never stop talking. We should have left after finished eating. Well, I guess it was a **complete** waste of time…"

"What do you mean?"

"Potter is fun to tease." She grinned.

Zabini scowled in disgust. "How can you even think of that Half-blood that way?"

"How could I not? He's somewhat good looking…of course he has nothing on you Zabini," Celina purred, sort of hugging from behind as they walked. He only scoffed, but didn't bother pushing her off.

Once they arrived at the compartment, the compartment door would shut. Somehow, Zabini ended up in Goyle's lap in attempt to shut it. Celina laughed. "So nice to see that you're able to close a door Zabini…oh wait…"

"Shut up, Elvira," He growled, sitting down beside her after Goyle ended up closing the compartment door.

"Come now Blaise, you know I'm only teasing," She whispered in his ear.

Draco coughed. "So Zabini, what did Slughorn want?" He asked, his head in Pansy's lap.

"Just wanted to make up to well-connected people." Zabini answered, pushing Celina so she wasn't so close to him. "He didn't find very many though.

"Who else was invited?" Draco demanded, sitting up.

"McLaggen from Gryffidnor, Belby from Ravenclaw, Longbottom, Potter, and that Weasley girl."

"Of course he wanted to meet Potter," Draco sneered, "But that Weasley girl! What's special about her."

"A lot of boys like her," Pansy informed everyone. "Even you think she's good looking Blaise, and we all know how hard you are to please."

"I wouldn't touch a filthy blood traitor like her whatever she looked like," said Zabini coldly. Pansy was pleased with his answer and Malfoy sank back across her lap.

"I pity Slughorn's taste. My father used to be a favorite of his. Maybe he hasn't heard that I'm on the train, or…"

"I wouldn't bank on an invitation. He asked me about Nott's father when I arrived. When he heard he was caught by the Ministry he didn't look happy, and Nott didn't get an invitation, did he?" Zabini reasoned. "I don't think Slughorn is interested in Death Eaters."

Draco looked angry and Celina couldn't hold back a laugh. "Shut it Elivra," he snapped, and she had no choice but to obey. His angry soon passed though and he laughed. "Who cares what Slughorn is interested in? I mean, I might not even come to Hogwarts next year. I might have moved on to bigger and better things."

The two boys, Crabbe and Goyle gawped at Malfoy, Zabini looked curious and Pansy looked dumbfounded. Celina remained passive, looking out the window, still in silence.

"Do you mean _Him?_" Pansy asked in awe.

"Mother thinks I should finish school, but I see no point. Once the Dark Lord takes over, what would it matter anyways? It'll come down to the service he'd received."

"And you think that you'll be of service to him?" Zabini asked doubtfully. "What can a 16 year old do? I doubt you're qualified."

"Maybe the job he wants me to do isn't something you need to be qualified for…" He said quietly and now the whole compartment fell silent, until Celina decided to speak again. "I think I see the castle. Shouldn't we go change into robes?"

"Yeah…" Zabini murmured and everyone began to move around to grab their luggage.

"C'mon Blaise, I'll help you change into your robes if you want," Celina said suggestively.

"Elivra…don't you dare…" Draco warned.

"Oh no! Draco sounds jealous! Come Blaise, before he can catch us…" Celina laughed, dragging Blaise out the compartment door.

"You're strange."

"Why thank you…I have a question for you Blaise. How do people get sorted into houses?"

"You put on the sorting hat and it sorts you."

"Oh sounds simple enough…now let's take off your clothes!"

"Get off me!"

Celina believed that it would be easy to be sorted into Slytherin. After all, she was definitely not a Hufflepuff, according to Zabini. She knew she probably wouldn't be sorted into Ravenclaw. She believed her qualities of a Slytherin, which Zabini seemed to agree she had, outweighed the any qualities she may have had in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. So you'd only be able to imagine her surprise when she was sorted into the Gryffindor house, before the feast.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: WOAH! How long has it been? Forever? I think so. Sorry it took so long, but I got so stuck with this chapter it wasn't even funny. I wanted to more in this chapter, but decided to put it in the next one. Sorry if it sucks, it's kind of a bridge chapter. **

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**Chapter 4**

Celina Elvira felt like she was just placed in a tank of sharks. No not placed, more like thrown into a tank of sharks. The other girls in her dorm were abnormally quiet. She sighed to herself; this was going to be a long year.

"You're that girl from Madam Malkin's," said a too familiar girl with brown, slightly bushy hair.

"It's very nice to see you again 'Miss' Granger. That was your name, wasn't it?" Celina asked for confirmation, but was ignored.

"What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean? I'm here to get an education like anyone else at this school."

"Well, forgive me for seeing it as rather odd that you start your schooling in your sixth year. That' a bit of a late start, don't you think?" Hermione questioned, her voice perfectly leveled.

"Yes well, I was obviously home schooled before coming here. Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away half a year ago and so I had no choice, but to continue my education at this school."

"I see. I'm terribly sorry."

"It's quite alright Granger. No harm, no foul, I suppose…"

"Is there something wrong with your hand?" Granger indicated Celina's covered right hand as she spoke.

"_Nothing gets passed this girl, does it?"_ Celina had to resist the urge to twitch in annoyance. "Yes, I burned it while cooking the other day."

"Oh…well, you should probably get it checked out then." She said politely.

"Yes, but it'll probably have to wait until tomorrow, seeing as how late it is already." Celina said, mocking the same polite air Granger held. A discomforting silence hung in the room. The other occupants were moving about silently, listening in closely to Celina and Hermione's conversation, waiting for what would be said next.

"You're right. I think I'll turn in now…." Granger said, closing the curtains around her bed. The other girls in the room proceeded to prepare to sleep as well. Celina on the other hand was reluctant to sleep; in fact she was slightly afraid. She didn't know what would happen if she slept. Would she be able to sleep soundly tonight? Or would **he** haunt her unconsciousness again? Celina stifled a yawn and slipped in between the scarlet covers, also closing the matching scarlet curtains. Her eyelids drew heavy and she knew that her body would not be able to stay awake much longer. Sleep was inevitable.

_Celina opened her blue eyes and much to her dismay, her hands were chained together again and she was on her knees. Her stomach filled with dread as she waited for __**him**__, but his voice didn't come, nor could she see him. All there was, was darkness. Did she dare call out to him? Or maybe this is what he wanted. For her to wait out the night in fear….she could hear it, his breathing. But she didn't know where it was coming from, behind her? In front? Left or right? _

"_Valafar," She whispered, the name itself was enough to send tremors of trepidation down her spine. No one answered her. "Valafar, there must be a reason for why you wanted me." Her voice slightly raised in the process. "Will you just tell me what you wanted?"_

"_You called me, my angel?" A deep voice resonated behind her. _

_A shiver involuntarily went up her spine. "What do you want Vala…"_

"_No no no...I am your master Ce-li-na, and you will call me as such." From behind, his hand lightly gripped on her hips. She could feel his long sharp nails through her nightdress._

"_Master…what do you want with me?"_

"_I just wanted to see how you were doing, love. How's the…Malfoy boy coming along?"_

_She took in a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Fine, I guess. We just arrived at Hogwarts, but of course you know that, don't you?"_

"_Yes, I do…"_

"_Then why bother calling for me?"_

"_Can't a carry on a simple conversation with my most favorite Elivra?"_

"_Don't you have somewhere you need to be?"_

"_But it's so boring down there…it's much more fun to be up here, with you." He breathed on the back of her neck. "Your death seems so far away, but soon enough you'll be mine."_

_Celina couldn't help but scoff, despite the slight fear she felt. "I thought I was already yours."_

"_It makes me so…happy that you've come to acknowledge that fact on your own. Say it again," He ordered her._

"_I'm yours, Valafar." Her voice held no emotion. He laughed gleefully, and even ignored the fact that she had called him by his name. Kisses found their way into the nape of her neck and all she could do was close her eyes and will for them to stop. _

"_I've waited centuries for you. Centuries…"_

The next morning was rather hectic for Celina. Many of the other gryffindors in her year were introducing themselves to her. To her surprise, it was a bit overwhelming. They were all very friendly. She had easily become friends with Lavender and Parvarti and though Neville was a bit…odd, she found him to be nice enough. The only people that didn't seem to take much notice of her were Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter.

She glanced over at them. They sat a few seats down from where she sat at the table that morning. No doubt Hermione had told them something strange about her. She couldn't hide a frown. How annoying…

"Is something wrong Elvira?" Lavender asked.

"Oh, it's nothing and just call me Celina." She said, quickly putting on a smile.

Lavender smirked as she looked at the people Celina was previously looking at. "Well, who were you looking at?"

"No one."

"It's Potter isn't it?" Parvarti chimed in. "You know, I went to the Yule Ball with him in our fourth year."

"I think you girls are mistaken. I'm not really that interested in…"

"No need to be shy unless you're interested in Ron instead…" Lavender said, her voice a bit darker.

"No, no, no…" Celina waved her hands in front her face.

Lavender's face brightened. "Oh, good."

Celina smiled weakly before returning to her breakfast. That was rather scary. Women and their men…speaking of which, Celina glanced up to see Draco Malfoy walk into the Great Hall with his posse. Her smile grew stronger as she got up from her seat. Ignoring the calls of Parvarti and Lavender, she waltzed up to Draco. "DRAAY! It's been too long love!" She greeted her young master. She paid no mind to the looks of some of the other students.

"Elvira," Draco sneered. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm just saying 'hello'. Is that a crime now?" She asked still smile. She was enjoying Draco's discomfort.

"Come with me, now." He ordered and Celina cheerfully complied. They walked so that they were just outside of the Great Hall. "You can't just **talk** to me like you're my best friend."

"Why not, Dray?" She pouted.

"Since those idiots in Gryffindor haven't explained this to you already, I guess I will. People in both the Gryffindor and Slytherin aren't exactly friends."

"Why's that?"

"It's just the way it is."

"Well that's stupid."

"It doesn't matter what you think of it."

Celina moved in on Draco, a finger gliding up his chest. "Yes, but how am I to serve you, Master?"

"I already told you; I don't need…What's on your neck?"

"My..neck?" Celina's face blanched and her hand flew to cover her neck. _"Valafar"_ She silently cursed.

Draco moved to her hand, his eyes narrowed at the bruise on her neck. "Where did you get that? What did I say about Potter!" Draco was furious that she dared to disobey an order.

She laughed. "Potter? Who said this was from Potter? Are you jealous another man has marked me?"

"Hardly. You've disobeyed me."

"I have done nothing that has gone against your orders. Besides, you said you didn't need me anyway. You don't seem to want to have anything to do with me."

Draco bit his lip. He had to be careful and take into account of Celina's personality. If he wasn't careful with her, she very may well give himself away. For a moment, he was not sure of what to say, but then he remembered the symbol on the back of her hand. "We made a contract. You are mine to control and I won't accept any inappropriate behavior. Do you understand?"

Celina closed her blue eyes. "Yes, Draco."

"Good. Now after classes today, I want you to meet me on the seventh floor in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy…"

"Barnabas the what?"

Draco sighed. "The Barmy. He's training trolls to dance in the tapestry…"

"Why the sudden interest in getting me involved?" She sighed.

"I can't trust you to roam about by yourself."

Celina broke a grin. "If you wanted to spend time together, then all you had to do was ask…"

"Mr. Malfoy, Miss Elvira!" A woman's voice exclaimed, causing the two teenagers to jump. "What are you two doing?"

Distance was immediately placed in between them. "Just getting to know each other Professor McGonagall." Celina smiled up to the head of the Gryffindor house.

"We weren't doing **anything**." Draco snarled.

"Well, you two should best be returning to the Great Hall to receive your schedules." McGonagall eyed the two suspiciously.

"Is there a problem?" drawled a dreary voice. All three looked to see Professor Snape.

Celina simply grinned. "No problem at all. Let's go, Dray!" She began to drag him back to the Great Hall.

"Hold it." Snape ordered. Celina only met the man a few seconds ago, but knew that this guy definitely had something sticking up his ass. "I'd like to speak with you privately, Mr. Malfoy."

"Fine." Draco glared at his professor, but followed him anyway.

Celina, on the other hand, side stepped away, avoiding further contact with Professor McGonagall.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Oh My God...I'm SOOO Sorry I haven't updated in FOREVER. I haven't forgotten about this fic, I've just been super busy and somewhat lazy. This chapter isn't too interesting. Hopefully the next one will be. Please Review and tell me what ya think.**

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**Chapter 5**

"He's always hanging around **Granger** though…"

"It shouldn't be that hard to whisk him away. Compared to Granger, you're much better looking…"

"Yes, but she's the smartest girl in our year…probably in the entire school…"

"Smarts can only take you so far. Be confident Lavender."

"But Parvarti…"

"There are going to be quidditch tryouts soon. We should go watch and cheer him on. Do you want to come with us and watch Celina or are you going to try out for the team?" Parvarti asked her new friend, who had remained silent all this time.

"W-what? Oh no, to be honest I'm not very comfortable flying on a broomstick, but I guess I'll tag along as well. When are they?"

"I don't really know." Parvarti realized, making Celina slightly annoyed. "I heard that Harry was mad captain of the quidditch team, so we can ask him the next time we see him."

"Alright then…look, you guys can head up to the common room ahead of me. There's someplace I kinda need to check out."

"Really where?" Lavender asked curiously.

"Just…somewhere? I'll see you two later for dinner, kay?" She said hastily, hoping they would just leave.

Lavender and Parvarti both looked at each other, before shrugging. "Alright then…"

"Don't do anything naughty now," Lavender winked.

Celina flushed red. What in the world did those two think she was! She glared at the backs of the two girls as they continued on the Gryffindor common room. After the two were out of sight, she began to look around to find the stupid tapestry Draco wanted her to find. She didn't even really know what the tapestry looked like. It wasn't as if she'd ever seen a person was training trolls how to dance before. The idea she had in her head was absurd.

"Are you looking for something?"

Celina's teeth clenched; she recognized the voice. "Nothing in particular Granger." She turned around to face her intelligent classmate and noticed that Harry Potter and that Ron Weasley person Lavender seemed to fancy. "Potter nice to see you again. You as well Weasley."

"Do you need help finding something?" Harry asked.

"No, I'm absolutely fine on my own…"

"How are you enjoying your classes so far?" Ron asked. "Actually, you were in a lot of the same classes as me and Harry, but you seemed to be spending a lot of time with other people."

"Yes well, can I help being so popular?" Celina couldn't help, but say those words. Screw modesty.

Apparently those words didn't sit well with the trio, because upon their faces now were slight frowns. "Anyways, do you need help finding something?" Hermione repeated Harry's question.

"Once again, your help is not needed."

"Yeah, but you look pretty lost to me." Ron pointed out.

"I'm just waiting for someone."

"Really? Who?" Harry asked.

"It doesn't really matter who, but I'm telling you that I'm perfectly fine. He'll find me eventually…I think I'm already kind of late." Celina then sighed. "I bet he'll come right down the corridor yelling at me, asking me where I was…"

Ron had a very confused look on his face. "Who are you talking abou…"

"Elvira! Where were you!" The snarl belonged to none other than the Slytherin prefect, Draco Malfoy. He grabbed her by the elbow. "What did I tell you before?"

"Draaay..it's not my fault I got lost. The seventh floor…well it's a big floor and I forgot to ask Lavender or Parvarti for directions when I got here..."

"What are you doing up here Malfoy?" Harry demanded an obvious hate apparent in his voice.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here for her." He raised Celina's arm as he said this.

"Let go of her. She doesn't want to go anywhere with you." Harry said automatically without thinking.

Celina stared at Harry in horror…how awkward. "Actually…Draco was the person I was waiting for…"

"W-wait, what?"

"Draco told me he'd meet me up here after classes. I was quite upset about not getting into Slytherin House, because that would mean I don't get to see Draco as much. Isn't that right Dray?" Celina gave him a pouty face.

Draco glared at her. "Right…we're leaving."

Needless to say Draco was furious as he dragged Celina away from the three Gryffindors. "I thought I told you to stay away from Potter."

She looked over at him with a bored look. "I believe the exact words you said were, '…I won't accept any inappropriate behavior.' Besides it's not as if I sought out Potter myself. He and his friends just happened to come along, while I was trying to find that stupid tapestry. It's not like I wanted to meet them, lest of all Granger."

"Well I'm so glad that we actually share something in common," Draco said slightly sarcastically. "Since you obviously don't understand, I guess I'll have to explain this to you. The one person I have to worry most about is Potter." He dropped his voice down to whisper. "If anyone's going to find out about my mission, it's Potter. He's already suspicious of me as it is, after what happened on the train."

"Eh? What happened on the train?"

"It doesn't really matter."

"Well, sorry for asking, but **you** are the one who mentioned it…"

"I'm going back to my common room…" Draco said with a stony face, not pleased at all with Celina."

"Wait, didn't you need to do something? That's the only reason you asked me to meet you today."

"Well, I can't really do that something, because a certain someone couldn't find the bloody tapestry."

"Is it my fault your directions were vague? 'The tapestry of the 7th floor'…you weren't very specific." Celina retorted in her defense.

Draco sighed. "Potter saw us, specifically me, on the 7th floor. Knowing him, he'll probably be lurking around to see if there was something I needed to do up here. I mean honestly, who would ask someone to meet on the 7th floor of all places?"

Celina rolled her eyes. "We can just go back and see if they're gone. If they are we can go to whatever this 'sacred' place you so desperately need to go to…what is it the loo?"

"Ha ha, aren't you clever?" Draco's eyes narrowed. "And if they're still there?"

"I'll just say that I wanted to drop of my book bag, in the common room, before taking off with you." It was now Celina leading Draco back towards where they were before. To her great relief, the three friends weren't there. She wasn't sure how Draco would have reacted if they were. "See? Coast is clear. Now let's go…" She said still leading the way before stopping. "You should probably lead now, since I have no idea where we're going."

Draco shook off Celina's grip on his arms and briskly walked ahead of her. "Hurry up."

Before Celina knew it they were in front of the tapestry of the Barmy, who was teaching trolls how to dance. She stared up at it in wonder. "Why the bloody hell would you hang something like that up?"

"Why on Earth would I know?" Draco muttered, his back was to her and he was examining the blank wall across the tapestry.

"Well, forgive me for saying so, but I just imagined that you'd have a similar taste in décor due to your personality."

Draco glared at Celina for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. "Get over here." Celina obeyed and jumped when Draco spun in his spot to face her. "You're are not allowed to insult me in anyway. Got it?"

Celina chuckled. "Yes, Master Malfoy…so what are we doing in this otherwise pointless corridor."

"You see this wall before you? It has a secret room and in the room there's a cabinet…"

"So we're sneaking around just so that we can get…to a plain old cabinet?" Celina repeated to be sure she heard Draco correctly.

"It's not an ordinary cabinet!" Draco snapped. He began to walk back and forth in front of the wall.

Celina blinked. "Umm…are you okay?"

Draco ignored her and stopped walking as a door magically appeared before them. "Hurry up." He strode up to the door and hastily opened it, ushering Celina inside before anyone could see them.

"Oh my…" Celina was in awe of what she saw when she entered the room. It was amazing how large it was and how many things there were. Towers of random things lined up in slightly messy rows and aisles. "What is this place?"

"I don't know what they call it, but Potter and the rest of them used this room to form a sort of organization last year. Also, I'm sure this is the same place Montague got stuck a few years ago…."

"Wow…" Celina couldn't stop from turning around in circles as she walked. There was just so much to see. "So is that's what's so special about the cabinet? It's a vanishing cabinet?"

"Yes."

"But if that Monta-person got stuck in the cabinet, then doesn't that mean it's broken. It'd be dangerous to use the cabinet as it is now."

"I'm aware of that…"

"Are you actually going to try and fix it? Isn't that sort of magic a bit to above your current level…"

The falling of random objects stopped Celina in her tracks and in her sentence. Draco was now looking back at her with great malice. "Do not underestimate me. You don't know what I'm capable of."

After recovering from his sudden outburst, Celina sighed. "Of course…I'm so sorry Master." Draco's eyes were still narrowed, but he seemed to accept her apology before carrying on down the aisle.

"There it is." He pointed out the rather old looking cupboard. From within his robes, he pulled out a green apple and placed it inside the cupboard. He then waited a few moments, before opening it again. Only a piece of the apple was gone.

"Draco…even if you have the ability to fix this cupboard, how long will it take? I mean…look at that apple. What if that was you?"

"I know that Elvira." His tone of voice was cold. "I'll be able to fix it. Besides, I, personally, won't be using it."

"Then what the bloody hell are you fixing it for?" She asked incredulously. He wasn't making any sense to her.

"Tch, I won't be telling you. Don't know when you'll slip up or something. Not to mention you're in Gryffindor house…"

Celina's eye twitched. "I'm not that unreliable…"

Draco was circling around to examine the back of the cabinet. "I beg to differ…"

Celina coughed. "Anyways, I suggest you carry out your mission as soon as possible. I would think the 'Dark Lord' wouldn't be very happy if you weren't able to carry out the deed before the end of the school year."

"And what? Risk the chances of getting caught? Do you know what will happen to me if I try anything?" Draco asked her, looking at Celina as though she had two heads.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…" She shook her head. "I guess this must be the reason I was placed in Gryffindor. I'm not asking you to **stab **the old man or perform the killing curse or anything. There's more than one way to skin a cat: cursed items, poison, getting someone else to perform the deed…" She began to list. "The possibilities are endless. You just need to think a little."

Draco observed her strangely. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you'd have a lot of experience with this sort of thing…"

"Yes well, you're not the first one to enter my shop with the purpose to attempt murder." She said darkly, before brightening up considerably. "Personally, I think it'll be best to have more than one plan. Who knows if this plan of yours will work…no matter how amazing you are." She added, to be sure Draco wouldn't snap at her again.

"You're being awfully helpful. It makes me wonder…"

Celina grinned. "I'm but your servant **Master** Malfoy. Whatever you require or need assistance with, I will of course oblige. This is a servant's duty after all."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: It's been ages I know, and I realized that I started this fanfic in 2010! Gotta finish this bad boy up and I'm not even halfway done with it yet! **

**I've always loved Blaise...even though he's basically an extremely minor character. XP Promise there'll be more Draco in the next chap.**

* * *

**Chapter Six**

Celina scanned the shelves and pulled out a book or two, before heading off to a table. She began to pour over each book and she couldn't help but feel like a studious student, except for the fact the subject she was looking for had nothing to do with any of the classes she was taking. She was looking up vanishing spells and how people would charm items to serve a specific purpose. The magic looked a bit more complicated than she would have liked, and wondered if Draco would be able to fix the cabinet. Especially before the end of the year, but then again, it's not like he was creating the cabinet from scratch. It shouldn't take that long, but she wasn't even sure what exactly was wrong with the cabinet in the first place. All she knew was that it was broken.

Sighing, she picked a few books and set them aside, before picking up all the other ones to return them to their proper shelves. "Elvira? What are you doing here?"

She jumped in her spot and spun around to see none other than Harry Potter. "Oh, Potter…you startled me. I'm just here looking for a few books. I'm just putting these ones back."

"Maybe I can help you then." He took a few of the books from her arms and began placing them on the shelves, but Celina caught him reading each title before returning them to their proper spots.

"Thank you for helping."

"It's no problem. What are you reading about anyways? _Creation of Magical Items_, _Intermediate Spells for the Innovative_…" He began to list a few and gave her an expecting look.

"Well…you see…I have this idea for a new magical item…an invention really. So I decided to do some research to see if the idea was possible to make into a reality. Of course, I don't know how well it will work with You-Know-Who back and all. Maybe I'll introduce it after you defeat him."

Harry frowned. "You too, huh?"

"Yes, you shouldn't mind too much that so many people believe you're the 'Chosen One' or whatever that is. You'll probably get a lot of attention from a lot of girls now. You can pick and choose any girl you want; I'm sure she'll say yes if you ask her out."

"But I won't be able to pick you, won't I?" He said and with his sentence came a new air of seriousness.

Celina paused half-way in putting her last book on the shelf. "Now what would make you think that?"

"Malfoy. He doesn't seem to want you around me, why is that?"

She laughed lightly. "How on Earth would I know? Draco doesn't really like telling me a lot of things; he keeps a lot of things to himself."

"Like recently?" Harry pressed.

"I've known him since I was young," Celina lied smoothly. "He's always been like this." She giggled. "I remember as children he practically thought he was a king. So arrogant…"

Harry examined the girl long and hard. He found it hard to imagine the Draco had a childhood friend like her. He also found it hard to believe she actually enrolled into Hogwarts in her 6th year. Hermione had told him that her grandmother, and guardian, died 6 months earlier, making her an orphan like himself. So it makes sense she was enrolled in school to complete her education, but something in his gut told him something was off. "I've never heard of you before now."

"Of course not, I was homeschooled, besides," she continued. "I doubt Dray would talk about me, especially to you."

"Why would that be?"

"Because it's not really any of your business. I mean…why in the world would he talk about his childhood friend with you of all people? He obviously dislikes you." She laughed. "You should really think things more thoroughly. Don't you use that brain of yours?" Harry frowned. She was definitely a friend of Draco's. "And I'm not surprised you haven't heard of my family before. Weren't you raised by muggles? Most magical families have at least heard of the Elvira family at least once or in passing."

"And why's that?"

"Well…our family is pureblood, has been for centuries. We're almost as well-known as the Malfoys, but our family tends to be more…reclusive than theirs. Except the only thing the Malfoys are known for now a days is being followers of You-Know-Who…well at least Dray's father is anyways. Wasn't he sent to Azakaban or something?"

"Yes…around the time before summer started."

"Yeah…I remember reading about it briefly in the Daily Prophet along with your little adventure in the Ministry of Magic. What were you doing there anyways?"

Harry bit his bottom lip. He had been at the ministry to save Sirius, and the mere thought of what happened at the Ministry unsettled him. If only his mind was so weak… "Nothing really…"

"Right. I'm surprised the Prophet didn't make a big deal of it, but I guess the headline 'You-Know-Who Returns' attracts more people, huh?" She began walking back to her table and took the books there to the front desk. Harry followed her. "Do you need something, else?"

"No, not really…do you need help with those?" He gestured to the books on the table.

"Nope." Much to Harry's dismay, she gathered the books up in such a way, that he couldn't get a clear few of the titles. "I'm going to go check these out. Maybe I'll see you later Potter…"

"Celina."

Both Harry and Celina looked to see a certain Slytherin walking their way. "Blaise, it's a surprise seeing you here in the library."

"I think it's the other way around." Blaise muttered, before speaking more loudly. "Draco's been looking everywhere for you. He's upset…which isn't really anything new…"

Celina giggled. "Did you come here to warn me? I didn't know you to be so sweet Blaise," she purred.

Blaise frowned. "I was actually going to check out a book for a report due next week." He paused for a moment. "Do you need help with those? I could walk you back to the dorms if you want…"

"Wouldn't it be better if **I** just carried them for her?" Harry interrupted. "We are in the same house after all…"

"Yes, but Blaise **never** offers such kindness so willingly. I'd be a fool not to accept his offer."

"You keep talkin' like that and I'll take back my offer." Blaise glared.

"Aww…I just love it when you glare at me." She rolled her eyes. "Why don't you run along Potter? You can't save the world if you're standing here talking to me, can you?"

Harry made a sort of face before walking off. There was a definite connection between Celina and Malfoy, but childhood friend wasn't it. Surely there was something more? He'd have to find out more information about the Elvira family, and who better person to ask than Hermione Granger?

As Harry left Blaise and Celina by themselves, Celina released a sigh of relief. "Honestly, he practically breathes down my neck whenever he sees me. Is he that suspicious of me and Draco?"

"I think everyone's suspicious of you and Draco." Blaise decided to mention as Celina handed her books over to the old librarian. "Don't you think it's odd? A new girl shows up at school entering her 6th year; at the same time she happens to be acquainted with Draco Malfoy, whose father has just been arrested for dark wizardry."

"I guess you have a point there." Celina said offhandedly, collecting the books from the librarian. "You said you were going to carry some right?" She looked down at the books then back at Blaise.

He sighed and took a few off the top of her stack. "There's an old tale of a witch long ago who wanted to possess great power. She begged to God to grant her such a wish and offered to give Him anything He asked for in return. In return for power, God cursed her to a life of servitude."

"Strange…I think I remember hearing a similar tale when I was younger."

"The Elviras have been known for centuries as a pureblood family, consisting of mostly women. Almost known of the offspring in the Elvira family are born from a marriage, and yet they still held prestige. Why is that?" Blaise quickly looked down next to him to see if she would give some sort of a reaction.

A hint of a smile appeared on Celina's face. "Why don't you tell me?"

"Because they've been so powerful and so naturally gifted at magic."

Celina laughed. "So you think that one of my ancestors was the witch who begged God for power those many years ago? That's just silly. Don't create theories from old children's tales."

"You do everything Draco says." Blaise still pressed.

"Because he is my beloved friend."

"Anyone who has known the Malfoys, any pureblood family, any Slyterhin, **knows** for a fact that you and Draco are not childhood friends. You should know that almost the entirety of Slytherin house is wary of you. In fact, the whole school might be wary of you because you associate yourself so closely to him."

Celina stopped walking, and drew in a breath, before whispering. "Let me tell you something Blaise…a little secret. But first tell me, why are you so insistent in knowing my relationship to Draco Malfoy?"

"He's a prick." Blaise spat. "But he has been one of my closest mates since I started school here."

"You may have a bit of Gryffindor in you yet, Blaise." She smiled. "Alright…here's my secret. Come closer." Blaise crouched down a bit so that her lips were right by his ears. A shiver of trepidation shot down his spine since he could feel her soft breathing. "Draco is not my Master and I am not his servant. He is my savior and I am the saved, until the deed is done."

"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" Blaise asked grumpily, unhappy with Celina's words.

"Exactly what it means…" Celina continued walking without a word and Blaise hurried to catch up.

Blaise looked around a bit, and said at a low voice. "Well if Draco really is work for Him, then are you helping or…?"

Celina laughed again. "What are you talking about? Who's 'Him'? I already told you…Draco and me are childhood friends."

Blaise frowned, but decided to leave things at that. "So did you get an invite to dinner with Slughorn?"

"I did, but I'm not really sure if I'm going to…"

"Go." Blaise shouted, before recollecting himself. "Please…go."

"Why? It's not like you're going to go…"

"But Slughorn asked me personally when I saw him in the halls." Blaise shuddered.

"Really? Well then, I guess I have no choice but to go then," She giggled, causing Blaise to smile as well.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Another chapta for ya'll. I really wanna start another Harry Potter fic, but I gotta finish this one first! _ **

**Not much going on in this chapter...really setting up for the next one...I need a link chapter. (-_-)"**

**Reviews would be loved.**

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

After several minutes searching, Harry Potter finally got Hermione and Ron to follow him to an empty corridor. "Harry, what are you going on about now?" Hermione started.

"I just bumped into Celina Elvira in the library. I tried asking her about Malfoy but…"

"Oh please Harry, not this again." Hermione pleaded.

Harry frowned. "Let me finish! I asked her about Malfoy and she says that they're childhood friends, but don't you think that's a bit odd?"

"I don't see anything strange about it," Ron piped in. "The Elviras are a pureblood family…the Malfoys are a pureblood family. It'd make sense if they were friends as they were kids. I mean they're a bit alike really…arrogant...rude…"

"You're just angry because she flirts with every boy in class except you!" Hermione said crossly, with her arms folded.

"I-I am not! Besides she doesn't flirt with every boy! She hardly talks to me **and** Harry." Ron responded defensively. "You're just angry because she's smarter than you thought she'd be."

"I never…"

Harry sighed. "Please no fighting right now." He was rubbing the sides of his temples, but something Ron just said caught his attention. "Wait Ron…you're from a pureblood family. So you've heard of the Elviras before right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Then you must know something! Something that'd link Elvira to…I don't know…dark magic or maybe even Voldemort or something." Harry said quickly, getting a bit impatient for Ron to give him some useful information.

"Well, there isn't much to be said about the Elviras. They're a rich, powerful pureblood family, like the Malfoys, but they aren't very…friendly."

"What do you mean by that?"

Ron scratched the back of his head and his ears went slightly red. "My family doesn't know too much about them…since we're sort of outcastes in comparison to other pureblood families, but from what I can tell from other people they don't really stand out like the Malfoys. I mean…you know how Mr. Malfoy used to donate and was part of the school board and stuff like that right?" Both Harry and Hermione nodded. "Well, the Elviras never really got involved with anything really. They aren't really interested in power like Mr. Malfoy was. And…"

"And…" Harry egged on.

"I don't know if it really matters or not, but there's a rumor that all members of the Elvira family had only ever been women and not a single one was married. Mother likes to mention it whenever the Elviras are mentioned…"

"So…their children are all technically illegitimate." Hermione concluded.

"I guess…but I remember there was a story my parents used to tell me. What was it? It was something about a…well…basically…the lesson of the story was to never trust an Elvira."

"Ron…that's completely useless."

"Sorry mate! Can't remember what I can't remember."

"Honestly Ronald?" Hermione scorned.

"Will you two back off?" Ron whined. "Basically the reason why it's not ok to trust an Elvira is because the Elviras are involved with dark magic. So if you're seduced by a woman of the Elvira family, you're cursed. Some people even think they might not even be human…"

"Dark magic! Does that mean that the Elviras could be followers of Voldemort?" Harry said excitedly.

Hermione frowned. "Harry, you shouldn't jump to conclusions like that. Besides, what Ron is saying is all based on rumors."

"No it's true! Since the Elvira women never married, they seduced men from other pureblood families to carry on the blood line, but something almost always terribly happened to those men shortly after the Elvira woman gave birth to the illegitimate child…or at least that's what I heard…"

"See Harry? It's all baseless conjecture and what would it matter if it was true anyways?" Hermione cut in.

"It would mean a lot! If I can break through to Elvira, then maybe she'll let slip that Malfoy is a death eater."

Hermione groaned. "Harry…it's absolutely ridiculous to think for even a second that Malfoy is a death eater or that Elvira is involved with dark magic."

"Yeah Harry," Ron chimed in once again. "What would Malfoy do? Polish You-Know-Who's wand?"

"You guys I'm serious. I know Malfoy is up to something. Don't you think it's strange? That this girl shows up out of nowhere right when it comes out in the open that Voldemort has risen again and happens to be 'friends' with Draco Malfoy of all people?"

"I guess you have a point there…" Ron started.

"Ron!"

Ron looked over to Hermione. "C'mon Hermione, he has a bit of a point there." Hermione still gave him a dark look, before quickly adding. "But Harry, she's in Gryffindor so she can't be all that bad right?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I can't believe that's your argument Ron. Listen Harry, there's no definite proof that both Elvira and Malfoy are followers of Voldemort, so please drop it..."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Why'd your voice trail off like that?"

She looked a bit sheepish. "Well…remember when we first met Elvira in Diagon Alley? She had a tattoo on the back of her hand."

"But that's kinda pointless information…I mean…don't death eaters have the dark mark on their inner left arm or something?" Ron asked.

"Yes," Hermione confirmed. "But it's…well…I find it a bit odd that now she's wearing a glove on that same hand the tattoo is on. I'm sure it doesn't matter much, but…"

"Do you remember what the tattoo was?" Harry asked, excited once again.

"It was a…pentagram…a black pentagram. It's a bit of an odd choice of tattoo really and an odd place for that matter." Hermione mused.

"What does it mean?" Harry asked.

"A pentagram" Hermione started. "Well…they are considered to be a form of old magic, dating far back in time. The five points signify five elements, while the circle surrounding combines them as one. Pentagrams were usually used for elemental summoning or rituals."

Ron asked tentatively. "So…is it dark magic?"

"No, just an old form of magic. I've never heard of any recent wizards or witches using such a dated form of magic. So don't think about this issue anymore Harry. You over things worth thinking about, like your sessions with Dumbledore."

Harry was beyond frustrated. What was it going to take to convince the two of them? He sighed. At least he found out some more information about the Elvira family. It consisted of illegitimately born women and it seemed that they may be involved in dark magic somehow, but what could he do with this information? The only thing he could conclude was to find more information. He could as Lavender and Parvarti about Elvira, since the two seemed to be the closest people in Gryffindor house to her, but Lavender and Parvarti had big mouths and would no doubt tell Elvira that he was asking about her. For now, all he could do was keep an eye on her and Malfoy with his trusty map.

* * *

"Elvira!" A loud shout resonated throughout the crowded hallway, causing all students to stop for a moment in their steps.

Celina groaned, but turned around and smiled at her caller. "Well, if it isn't my darling. How are you today love?"

Draco made a face. "Don't talk to me like that. What the hell was that?"

Parvarti and Lavender looked at Celina pointedly. "You guys go ahead. It seems Dray and I got some things to talk about." Celina's two friends went on their way and now Celina's full attention was on Draco. "What is it now Draco? What are you angry about?"

"The detention you got from Snape. Honestly, didn't anybody teach you to shut your mouth?"

Celina raised an eyebrow, before realizing what he was talking about. "All I asked him was to explain how to perform nonverbal spells more clearly and, when he didn't answer me, I told him that I thought his teaching was incompetent for ignoring a student in need of further explanation."

"Are you trying to get in trouble on purpose?" He whispered harshly, trying not to make a scene in the hallway. He sighed and began pulling her away. "C'mon, we need to go somewhere private."

"I have class, ya know."

"Don't care."

The two students entered an empty classroom. Celina swung her bag onto a desk and placed her hands on her hips. "Okay…we're in a private place. What would you like to tell me, Master Malfoy?"

"You need to lie low. You don't want to attract any attention…because when you attract attention to yourself, you're going to be attracting attention to me."

"I apologize Master Malfoy. I didn't realize you held me to such regard."

"I do not. It's just I've already associated myself with you. I swear, everyone in this bloody school now thinks that you and I are like…friends or something…" he said in a slightly disgusted voice.

"Oh…God forbid you make any friends Master," Celina threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "And in case you haven't noticed, I'm already attracting attention just being here in this school. I highly doubt many people start public schooling during the 6th year."

Draco sighed again. "Alright, whatever." He was quiet for a moment, as if in deep thought. "I order you to stay by my side, whenever it's possible."

"Aww…have you been feeling lonely lately?"

"Elvira…"

"Yes, I understand. Anything else?"

"I want you to make a large supply of polyjuice potion."

"P-Polyjuice potion?" She stuttered in surprise. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get the ingredients?"

"I have some of them already, so you don't need to worry about it."

Celina gave him a look. "Well, how much do you need?"

"Enough to last me…maybe to the end of the year. It depends on how quickly I can repair the cabinet."

"The end…of the year! I doubt you brought enough ingredients for that!"

Draco rolled his eyes. "You'll just need to take some from Snape's office or something then. I'll need enough to last a few hours every time I go to the cabinet, enough for two people."

Celina frowned. "Well aren't you suddenly demanding? I understand, anything else Master?"

"Yes, I had my mother find this cursed necklace. If one was to touch it would be deadly…"

"So…you're going to…do Dumbledore in… with a necklace? Brilliant idea…except for the fact that everything that comes into the class is checked by dark sensors, there's no way you can get an item like that into the castle."

"I realize that…" He looked at her expectantly.

Celina smirked. "So you're asking me for my help? You should have just said so…but honestly, that idea is rather weak…"

"It's only a backup plan! My main plan involves the cabinet, but you're right. I can't just sit and do nothing, allowing time to slip away."

"Well, it's obvious you're new to this sort of thing. I suggest you come with an idea to get someone else to bring the item into the castle. We can't have your Mother sending it by owl or anything. That would be disastrous." She said, grinning all the while. "Do you want me to help you come up with some ideas?"

"Don't look down on me." He snapped. "I'll come up with it on my own."

"I was only offering my service to you, like any good servant should. So stop being so defensive…"

Draco took in a deep breath before speaking. "I'm not being defensive Elvira. I simply don't require your help with this matter."

"Do you need my help with anything?" She whined, although she wasn't truly upset with it. "Alright then, well…if you ever need my help Master, don't hesitate to ask."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Yep, still around. Slowly but surely I swear I'm gonna finish this bloody story.**

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**Chapter Eight**

Celina lounged on top of a large wooden chest. She twirled a piece of her hair around one finger in utter boredom. "You're lucky McGonagall didn't give you detention Dray. What on Earth were you thinking?"

"Will you please…shut up and past me that small jar?" Draco growled.

With a big sigh, she rolled off the trunk and passed him the jar. "If you let your grades drop too low, then the teachers will begin to wonder. I mean…Potter is already suspicious of you. It's quite annoying…"

Draco dropped the jar and the liquid-ish magical substance fell out, splashing all over the floor. "Do you see what you made me do! Why can't you stop talking? All you ever talk…no, whine about are the girls in class or the boys in class or about how this one person ignores you whenever you say 'hi'. Don't you think there's a reason why people ignore you!"

"Draco calm down."

Draco's one hand was beginning to shake. "You don't understand. It's been a month and nothing I seem to do to this bloody cabinet seems to be working."

Celina took his hands in hers and looked him dead in the eye. "Calm down. You're over-thinking this. You lose your cool and you lose the game." She reached up and touched his face. Draco flinched back. "You're starting to get bags under your eyes. How long do you stay here after I leave?"

"Maybe…two or three in the morning." He muttered.

"Well no wonder things aren't improving with the cabinet, how can you fix it if you don't get sleep?" She giggled. "You're new to this whole assassin, evil thing…remember, good things come to those who are patient. If you're this eager to get the job done, then you should go up to his office and kill him now."

"It's not that easy!" He pulled away.

"It could be." She snapped back. "But you're not ready for that sort of thing clearly."

"Have you ever taken someone's life before?" He barked. "Especially like that!"

"No, but as I said before, you're not the first person to ask for my help in an assassination or murder. In fact I'm probably just as guilty of murder as my clients, at least in God's eyes. Anyways, the polyjuice you wanted is just about finish, but it's not enough to last an entire year. I think it'd be best to keep it stored with you. I'm practically expecting Potter to ask Granger to go snooping around my stuff any day now."

Draco seemed to calm down a bit, before smoothing his hair back with his hand. "Right, did you bring it?"

"Of course I brought it." She said stiffly and withdrew a flask from her bag. "I also brought notes I took from books I read in the library. I know you said you didn't want my help, but I'm being paid to help you. So I'm going to help you." She handed the notes over, along with the flask.

He did a quick shuffle through the papers. He was surprised with how much information was there. "I can't possibly try all of this on the cabinet."

Celina scoffed. "You won't have to use all of it. Most of it is basic information to give you a good foundation. I summarized it to the fundamental points so it should be easy for you to retain. You're smart aren't you?"

"Of course I am! I'm number two in the school."

"Behind Granger," Celina snickered.

Draco gave her a death glare, before looking over the papers again. He took a sit and began to read the first page. "Well since I'll be looking these over, someone will have to do my homework for me…"

"You know…I don't think Crabbe and Goyle would be up to such a task. I mean they are so dumb, they do everything you say. Really…who would agree to transform into a teeny little 1st year and guard a door?"

"Elvira…"

"I know. I know. I'll get right to it, but you know that the teachers can probably trace magic right? Cheating isn't exactly a new concept to them."

Draco smirked. "I thought it was your job to help me. Stop complaining."

"Of course **Master **Malfoy. Is there anything else you'd like?"

"Yes, this weekend there's a trip to Hogsmeade. I need you to come with me."

"It's about time you asked me on a date. What will we be doing?"

"It's secret." He said, without looking up from his papers.

This made Celina frown. "Well fine. I'm heading out then to tackle the mountain of homework I now have. It shouldn't be too bad though…"

"And what makes you think that?"

"I'm an Elvira." She grinned cheekily, before making through the random junk and clutter to get to the door.

Draco now sat alone next to the cupboard with a large frown on his face. His eyes feverishly danced along the pages he held. He couldn't help but admit that Celina outdid herself and the mere thought of that only made his frown deepen. She was useful, but she also infuriated him to no end. He didn't want to get help from a person like her; he didn't even want to get help from Snape, especially not Snape. Draco shook his head. There was no way he'd let that old man take away his glory.

He stifled a yawn.

He was tired and focusing on the words was getting harder and harder with each minute that passed. Celina was right. He needed sleep, but he wanted to get this cabinet fixed. Briefly, he imagined himself asking Celina to do something about the cabinet while he slept. The thought made his stomach churn. He was by no means stupid. He knew he had a big ego and even bigger pride. However, now wasn't the time to think about that. This was his moment, his big chance. Perhaps it was time some changes be made.

* * *

Celina was starting to feel her hand cramp up. She was grateful Draco decided to make more use of her, but to make her do something so lowly and tedious as homework? She stifled a yawn. The number of people in the Gryffindor common room had finally dwindled down to only Celina herself, except of course for the few people passing through. She glanced down at her wrist watch, which read 11:30. Was it already so late? She could leave the rest of the homework she needed to finish for tomorrow, but she also needed to charm the homework so that the handwriting resembled Draco's. After a few moments of deliberation, she decided it would be best to hurry and finish it all now, because chances were the teachers would assign more tomorrow.

"Umm…are you Celina Elvira?" A small voice asked.

Raising eyebrow, Celina looked up to see a small boy, a first year. "Did you need something? Perhaps you had trouble sleeping? I can help you with that."

The boy blushed. "No, no! Uh, here!" He gave her a piece of parchment; she noticed it was sealed.

"What's this?"

"I dunno, somebody told me to give it to you."

"And who would that 'somebody' be?"

The boy looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "They…um…told me not to tell you. Good night Elvira!" He said quickly before running up and off to bed.

Celina played with the note in her hand. Debating on whether to open it or not. She had a pretty good idea of who it could be from. There was only one other person outside Gryffindor who would like to contact her…unless it was a love letter from Blaise? She laughed at herself before finally opening the parchment. It read only one sentence:

_At one, work on the cabinet for two hours._

She made a face. What on Earth got into Draco in the past 24 hours? First the homework and now this? Before he wanted almost nothing to do with her. Her chair made a screeching noise as she pushed it back to get up and walk over to the roaring fireplace. Without hesitation she threw it into the flames and watched it crumple and fold over onto itself, until it was nothing but ashes.

"What are you doing?"

Celina didn't even try to hide her groan. "What is it now Harry?"

Harry casually looked over at the table she was working at. "I was just asking what you were doing."

"Isn't it obvious? Homework."

"Really?"

"Why so surprised? I spend a lot of my time playing around with Lavender and Parvati. When I get a chance I try to spend to time with dear Blaise and oh so dearest Draco. Since they're in Slytherin it's hard to hang out with them much, you know?"

"What did you throw in the fire?" Harry asked, cutting to the chase.

"You saw that?" Celina appeared to be unnerved by the question. "It was just a piece of an essay I no longer needed. Sometimes when I write I end up writing unnecessary things. So into the fire it went." Harry was obviously dissatisfied with the answer. "Are you done interrogating me now?" She looked him dead in the eyes, a challenge.

"There's a Hogsmeade trip this weekend and next. Would you like to go with me?"

"Sorry can't." Celina easily shot him down. "I'm going out with Draco this weekend and I was thinking about asking Blaise out the next weekend. Sorry, you may be the 'Chosen One' but you're gonna have to do more than that to impress me."

"And what on Earth is impressive about Malfoy?"

"Dray? I wonder if there's anything great about him?" She laughed. "He has looks. He has money. He's fun to tease. And when he flounders or messes up, it's even more fun, since he has such a big ego." She crossed her arms over her chest. "Now will you leave me alone? As you can see, I have a lot of work to do."

Much to her surprise he left, although a bit reluctantly. She waited until she heard the opening and closing of a boy's dormitory door before she turned to the fireplace again. Being sorted into Gryffindor was starting to proof troublesome. She was even a bit reluctant to go out tonight, but she was ordered to by Draco. She didn't have a choice. At least she wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.

Yes, that was the main positive of her situation. She won't have to sleep as much. Sure she'll be up late studying her eyes out, but she won't have time for sleep. No sleep, meant no Valfar.

_Crackle. _The sudden noise from the fireplace started her. It happened again, and then a second time. Celina was now staring hard at the fire. Was this supposed to be some sort of sign? She went down on her kneels, trying to see what exactly was in the fire.

There it was.

Two eyes stares directly back at her. They were half-lidded, husky and red. _Crackle. Crackle. _The fire was laughing at her. She sneered and made way to hit the eyes with her open hand, but it did nothing. The two eyes were still there, looking just as amused.

She hated them.

She hated those eyes.

Without thinking, she continued waving her hand through the fire, trying to get rid of them. Before long, the glove on her right hand caught fire. Shrieking with surprise, she drew her hand back, yanked off the glove and threw it back into the fire. She examined her hand. It only seemed slightly burned, but what caught her attention was the usually black pentagram. At that moment the pentagram was glowing red.

A warning from Valafar.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I can't believe I wrote another chapter so quickly. This chapter is kinda building up for the next one.**

* * *

**Chapter Nine **

"But it's freezing," Celina whined.

"You can freeze to death for all I care. I'm not putting my arms around or holding your hand or anything like that!" Draco said, for what felt like the tenth time.

"I've been staying up late doing your homework then doing…you know…" She quickly looked around to see if anyone was close by. "Well…you know…It's not easy ya know."

Draco scoffed. "What do you want? A treat? You already get paid, so calm down."

"But I want a date. Don't you think it's better if we act like we're on a date?" she slipped her arm through his. "It'll be more natural and we'll be less conspicuous."

"Che, do what you want then." He didn't have time to worry about what she was doing now. He had to keep an eye out for his mother.

Celina smiled up at Draco. "You're looking better than you did earlier this week."

"And you look slightly worse," He gazed down to take a closer look at Celina. It had only been a few days since he's been having her do his homework and work a bit on the cabinet at night, but he noticed she was starting to get bags under her eyes.

She frowned. "You noticed? That's terrible. That means I didn't put on enough make-up this morning."

"You wear make-up?"

Celina hit him playfully on the shoulder. "Of course I do, it's natural for girl to want to look pretty for her date."

"I'm not your date." He said bluntly. He wasn't paying much attention to her anymore. His eyes were quickly scanning the small crowd of people moving this way and that, until he found the familiar he was searching for. Slipping away from Celina, he approached the woman and tapped her on the shoulder.

She made a small jump before turning around. "Oh Draco!" His mother enveloped him in a hug. "Are you doing well?"

"Mother!" He smacked her way before it could get anywhere near his cheek.

His mother chewed at her bottom lip and then noticed Celina. "Celina!" She smiled and took her hands in her own. "I hope you're doing well."

"Very much, thank you Mrs. Malfoy." She smiled politely. "We should all go inside the Three Broomsticks. That's a popular place here, right Draco?"

"Wait a minute I…" Draco tried to protest.

"But…don't you think it's strange that your mother had come all this way and you won't even share a few drinks with her? You're such a cruel son."

Draco gave in. He didn't want to cause a scene at the street. "Fine, but mother…did you bring what I asked for?"

Mrs. Malfoy pursed her lips before digging into her bag and pulling out a small parcel. "I don't like the thought of you using this Draco. Please be careful."

"I know. I know." He handed the parcel to Celina. "Take it." Celina frowned, but obeyed, tucking the parcel into her own bag. When she looked up, she could see a slight grin hidden on Draco's face. "Shall we go to the Three Broomsticks then?"

All Celina did was nod and follow after Draco and his mother. She couldn't lie to herself; she was a bit nervous. She had no idea what was in the parcel. Was it something very dangerous? Draco's mother seemed so worried for him to have it, but if it was something that could harm Draco, then his mother wouldn't have given it to him, right?

Celina's thoughts soon left her as the three of them entered the Three Broomsticks. She could feel her frosted skin melt the moment she stepped through the doors. The place was quite crowded, since it was rather cold outside and all. She recognized some people from her classes, some people she had seen walking in the halls, and of course the random assortment of strangers. It was a light, cheerful atmosphere, and that too was enough to make her feel warm on the inside. "You two find some place to sit. I'm going to get us some drinks." Draco said, heading straight away to the bar.

"Alright." Celina nodded. "Shall we go then, Mrs. Malfoy?"

As the two women settled down at a table, Mrs. Malfoy intiated conversation. "How has Draco been at school?"

Celina wasn't surprised that she would want to talk about her son, since he wasn't there. "He's been rather cold to me since the beginning of the school year. I guess it makes sense though, since I was placed in Gryffindor."

"Gryffindor?"

Celina nodded. "Surprising right? It makes things a little difficult for Draco and me."

"I would think so, but you haven't had too many major problems right?"

"Not really I guess…to be honest I'm not too sure. Draco doesn't like to share everything with me."

Mrs. Malfoy looked slightly worried. "He hasn't told you anything?"

"He doesn't really trust me, and I don't blame him. It makes sense that he's conscious."

Mrs. Malfoy began to chew on her bottom lip again. "Even after I told him to trust you…he doesn't even listen to Snape anymore and…"

Draco set the three butter beers on the table hardly. "Will you calm down?" He asked his mother. "And you," He pointed at Celina. "Stop saying pointless things."

"They're not pointless. I was only answering her questions…"

"And adding pointless commentary. All you had to say was yes or no…"

"Who in the world carries a conversation like that? By only saying yes or no? No wonder you don't seem to have many friends."

Before Draco could say another word, his mother cut in. "Let's not argue in the middle of a public setting."

Celina smirked and Draco rolled his eyes. "Just hurry up and finish your drink Mother. People will start wondering why you're here."

Mrs. Malfoy sighed for what Celina felt was the hundredth time today, before quickly downing her butter beer and leaving the Three Broomsticks. "I don't see why you treat her that way," Celina remarked off-handedly.

"What I do isn't really any of your business, is it? Besides, she needs to stop bothering me all the time. I'm not a child anymore."

"Of course you're not…but you still shouldn't treat her like that…" She muttered under breath.

Draco frowned. "Well what about **your **mother then? I doubt you're any better than me with the way you behave."

"You're right. If my mother came in through those doors, I wouldn't give her the time of day. She did abandon me as a child after all…"

"She…she what?" Draco wasn't sure if he heard Celina correctly.

"She left me to my grandmother and took off somewhere shortly after I was born." Celina repeated. She didn't look Draco in the eye, and Draco started to feel uneasy. "No need to be so uncomfortable Dray, you didn't know." She took a sip of butter beer before continuing. "But now that your mother is gone, we can have more time to ourselves." Celina winked.

All feelings of uneasiness were gone in an instant. "We're not on a date Elvira. Now hurry up and finish your butter beer. I want to get back to the castle."

Celina sighed. "It's all work and no play with you, isn't it?"

Draco ignored her. "And leave the parcel here."

Her eyebrows furrowed together. "Why? Didn't we just get it from…"

"Just do it. I know what I'm doing."

Celina grinned. "Whatever you say, Master."

After Celina finished her drink, the two went outside. To her surprise Draco took her hand in his, but only for a couple of moments before he released it again. In her hand was a galleon. "What am I supposed to do with this? I already got this month's payment you know."

"I'm aware of that…" Draco walked a little closer to her so that he could whisper. "It's like a way for me to contact you when I need you. It's more efficient than sending you notes…"

"But I love getting your little love notes…"

"You'll know that you've gotten a new message when the galleon gets hot. So keep it with you at all times."

"Of course I will. It's gift from you after all." Celina smiled.

Draco stared her down. He couldn't tell if she was taking this seriously or not. After a few moments of staring, he began to walk ahead and back towards the castle, with Celina following leisurely behind.

* * *

"Celina! Oi, Celina!"

Celina spun around to see certain Slytherin run up to her. "Long time no see Blaise."

"That's for sure. You missed Slughorn's dinner thing last night!"

Celina was trying to keep herself from laughing. "Are you angry?"

"Wha-, no. I just…I…it was a complete bore. Of course I'd be mad!"

She was grinning full force now. "Am I your only friend in the Slug Club?"

"The only reason why I'm in the Slug Club is so I can get a connection with Slughorn. You stay in his good books and he's sure to hook you up with a job after you finish schooling."

"You completely dodged my question." Celina commented.

"Anyways, I think it's best you watch yourself."

"Watch myself from what? Is Slughorn going to come drag me down to one of his dinner parties? Or are **you **going to me dragging me there so you won't have to be by yourself?"

"No and no," Blaise glared for a moment. "I'm talking about Draco."

"If this is about my relationship to Draco, then I already…"

Blaise shook his head. "This is something different. How should I say this…" He had a bit of a puzzled look on his face before continuing. "There's this rumor going around that you and Draco are really going out."

Celina blinked. "And the problem is…?"

"It's true?" Blaise asked, his eyes wide open in shock.

She laughed. "I wish…no, of course not. You've seen how Draco and I've interacted. We're not very couple-like, if anything it's a one-sided relationship."

"Well loads of people were talking about seeing you two together at the last Hogsmeade trip. Apparently you two were really close…"

"I guess so…" She started slowly. "…but we aren't going out."

"That's not the way everyone sees it. I mean, Draco hasn't even said anything against the rumors. Normally he'd be on it like that."

"But we both know that Draco isn't under normal circumstances this year, is he?" Celina said darkly.

"You have a point there. I'm starting to wonder if he has even heard the rumors at all…"

"Anyways, I don't even see what the problem is here. So what if there's a rumor going around. It's not hurting anybody so…"

Blaise shook his head gravely. "Then you don't know Pansy Parkinson that well."

Celina gave Blaise a blank look. "Who the heck is Pansy Parkinson?"

"Uh…" Blaise struggled to find a way to describe her. "She has black bob-cut hair….and…oh! Do you remember when we were on the train? The girl's lap Draco put his head on…that's Pansy Parkinson."

"So…she's his girlfriend?"

"Not exactly…" He scratched his chin. "To be honest, I don't really know the truth behind their relationship really. But whenever she's talking about Draco you can kinda tell she thinks he's hers."

"Really?" Celina mused over this newly found information for a minute. "Thanks for the info Blaise, but honestly, I have other things to worry about." Just as she stuffed her hands in her pocket and felt her galleon heat up slightly. She sighed. "Speaking of which, I gotta go. Draco dearest is expecting me."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Alrighty...I'd say this story has just about reached the half-way point. Finally (TT_TT)**

* * *

**Chapter Ten **

There was an uncomfortable sort of air in the room. Draco worked on the cupboard silently and Celina sat on her usual trunk. This time instead of simply watching, she was doing homework for herself and Draco. Just yesterday the news came out that a 7th year Gryffindor, Katie Bell, was cursed at the trip to Hogsmeade.

"Good thing I lost your transfiguration homework, right Draco?" Celina said, trying to fill in the silence.

"I don't want to hear it right now."

Celina bit her lip, before deciding to continue. "Without that you wouldn't have gotten a detention from McGonagall or your alibi. I didn't think Potter would be so crazy as to accuse you so…" She searched for the right word. "…blatantly."

Draco said nothing and kept his attention on the cupboard.

"But…for future reference, I suggest that you don't do something that crazy again. That plan had obvious flaws, like the fact it be pretty damn hard for Katie to smuggle that dark necklace when every student is examined with a dark dectector."

Draco stood abruptly and kicked the nearest piece of junk. "Do you think I don't know that?"

Celina remained unaffected. "I just thought you'd come up with something more well-thought out…"

He couldn't say anything against her, because he knew that she had a point. He wasn't stupid after all. In retrospect, his idea was rather underdeveloped. However, there was no way he was going to admit his mistakes. Celina noticed his behavior. "Maybe next time you'll let me in on it?" She asked gently. "I can help you out."

Draco glared. "I don't need it."

She expected him to say that and sighed. "So was that necklace the one in the parcel? How the heck did that girl get it anyways? Especially since you were in detention and I spent my Hogsmeade trip with Blaise."

"I…wait…you what?"

Celina remained unfazed. "I spent my Hogsmeade trip with Blaise because you were stuck in detention."

"Why didn't you go with one of your Gryffindor friends?"

"Because I wanted to go with Blaise. Why else?" She examined her fingernails as she spoke. "So are you going to tell me how you did it?"

Draco began to smirk. "It wasn't that hard really. I cursed the bartender, Madam Rosmerta and gave her commands through a galleon similar to yours. I had her curse a Hogwarts student in the woman's restroom and take the necklace to Dumbledore."

Celina raised an eyebrow. She had to admit she was rather impressed. She didn't think Draco could come up with something like that. "Quite impressive, it had flaws, but still impressive. You're quite cunning."

Draco was practically drinking in her praise.

"But…you're not cunning enough. Your plan still failed."

His eye twitched. "I know that, but I have more than one plan and the cabinet is looking better than when we started."

"But will it be ready before the end of the school year? It's already winter time…" She asked aloud and jumped when she heard a bang.

Draco kicked over another random item in the room. "It's going to work!" He said, with his hands balled up into fist. "It has to work."

She gave him a worried look, before getting up and putting her hands on his shoulders. "Calm down. I'm sorry for making you worry."

"You're not making me worry! I'm not worried! I…"

"Shhh…" Celina shushed him. "If you say it's going to work, then it's going to work. I have no doubt in you, Master."

He looked at her for a few seconds, before dropping his head. Celina's eyes widened. "Draco…Draco?" She shook him lightly.

"I'm just a bit tired…"

"Here, I have just the thing." Celina went to her bag near the trunk and pulled out a flask. "Drink this."

Draco eyed the flask apprehensively. "What is it?"

"It's like…an awakening potion. I mixed it with tea and whatnot. It should last a few hours."

Although he was a bit wary of it, Draco took the flask anyways and took a slip. "Not bad."

"Of course it doesn't taste bad! It's my own recipe after all! I try to make my own recipes taste the best they can. Drinking nasty tasting potions are terrible."

"Uh-uh," He took a few more mouthfuls, before handing it back to her. "Shouldn't you take some too?" He noticed that the dark circles under her eyes haven't gone away and she was starting to get bags.

"No, I'll take some later when I start feeling tired."

"But you look tired now," Draco muttered and Celina chose to ignore him.

"Would you like me to calm your nerves?" Celina asked. "I can look into my crystal ball and see what's in store for you if you'd like."

Draco was a bit unsure of this. "It's fine."

"Is it really?" Celina questioned. "I thought you would be more interested in looking into the near future.

"Just about everybody, especially at this school, thinks that future telling stuff is rubbish."

"Oh please," She began to dig through her bag and pulled out a small, foggy glass orb. "They just never had a professional." She held out the orb. "Hold it with me."

He raised an eyebrow, but complied. He decided to play along with her nonsense. Celina grinned. "Clear your mind and look into the ball. Do you see anything?"

Draco scoffed. "No…"

Celina's grin slowly faded, until it became a frown. "Do you know what I see? Poison…"

"Poison?"

"Yes…Deadly Night."

"D-Deadly Night?" Why did that sound so familiar to him?

"Yes…you stole it from me didn't you?"

Draco's eyes widened when he realized what she was talking about. "How did you even know that! Doesn't that thing see into the future!"

She pulled the orb away and tucked it away into her bag. "Yes it does. I saw you using it. That's why I know you stole it from me."

He was avoiding her eyes now. "So…how am I supposed to poison him?"

Celina folded her arms in front of her. "I thought you hated when I helped you."

"Fine. I'll figure out something myself."

Celina smiled at him. "That's the spirit."

A couple of hours passed. Celina worked on their homework the whole time while Draco tried hard to make progress with the cabinet. The two of them then walked down to dinner together and went their separate ways. Celina went towards the Gryffindor table. Draco went to join the other Slytherins.

"Hi guys," She greeted Parvarti and Lavender and sat across from them. Lavender was sitting next to Ron, her arm locked with his. Parvarti sat on the other side of Lavender and didn't look too happy for some reason. Celina raised an eyebrow. "Is there something the matter?"

"Not really." Parvarti said stiffly. "It's just we haven't seen you around much lately."

"Sorry, I've just been busy lately."

"With Malfoy this whole time?" Lavender asked. "A little strange if you ask me…"

"I don't see anything strange about it," Celina replied coolly, helping herself to some food. "Draco and I are friends after all."

"More than friends it seems like." Parvarti said under her breath.

"Oh please," Celina muttered. "I'm telling both of that there isn't anything going on between me and Draco. And like…I was with Blaise last Saturday at Hogsmeade. I highly doubt that if Draco had a girlfriend, he would let her hang out with Blaise on a Saturday afternoon."

"That still doesn't change the fact you spend a **lot **of time with him." Parvarti pouted slightly.

"I still don't see the problem. I see both of you at meal times and back in our rooms. Besides, aren't you two going out?" She pointed at Lavender and Ron. "Don't you guys spend a lot of time together?"

"But we're going out!" Lavender squealed with joy. "It's natural for us to spend time together! You and Draco on the other hand…"

Celina practically bit her tongue. She didn't mean to strengthen Lavender's and Parvarti's argument against her. "Believe what you wish." She finally said. "We aren't going out."

"Well good because…ejwafniwowaclk…." Parvarti said.

Celina stared at her bewildered. "Sorry, I didn't catch that."

"I said..faw wafhlwef kweuh…"

Celina's brows furrowed. Why couldn't she hear what she was saying? Her vision slowly began blurry before becoming clear again…she needed her potion. She quickly dug through her bag only to realize that she didn't have the flask anymore. Draco drank it all.

"Celina…are you even listening to me?"

"I'm sorry…I spaced out." Celina stood up from her chair. "I think I'm going to head back to the common room now."

"You barely even touched your food." Lavender pointed out.

"I'm just…I'm just not feeling too well." Celina could feel herself swaying slightly. Her vision went blurry again, before returning to its former clarity.

"Just be careful." Parvarti sighed. "Parkinson isn't too happy about you."

Celina nodded, wondering for a moment about what Parvarti was talking about, but didn't think more about. She needed to get back to the room and drink another one of her awakening potions. Although she was trying to hurry, it felt like she was moving very slow like molasses. She had barely made it half-way through the hall when she heard somebody call out to her.

"Elvira!"

She stopped and turned around to see none other than Pansy Parkinson. "What?"

"Who the hell do you think you are?"

Celina blinked a couple times. "Celina Elvira."

"I meant to Draco. Everybody knows it's him and me who are together."

"Well thank you for telling me, but you're mistaken. Draco and I don't have anything between us. We're just friends."

"Ha!" Parkinson laughed. "Don't give me that. I've asked around and just about everyone says that you're spending a lot of time with him."

Celina glared. "I'll hang out with whoever I want. If you're so worried, talk to Draco dearest about it." She turned around to leave. She had about enough of her bullshit. She was tired beyond belief and it felt as if her body was buzzing all over.

"I'm not finished talking to you…wa erahojf akjhfwe ef uwhh wuefhahwue…."

Celina couldn't hear what Pansy was saying. She could barely feel herself standing up. The last thing she saw was seeing Pansy's face when she whirled her around, then Celina's world went black.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Hermione placed the flowers she brought on top of the bedside drawer. It was already cluttered with other get well gifts, so she had to push some out of the way to make some room. "It feels kind of weird visiting her."

"Her hand…" Harry pointed out and reached out to grab it.

Hermione swatted it away. "How can you still be thinking about that when she's unconscious?"

Harry looked away. "I only wanted a better look." He reached out to it anyway and placed it on Celina's stomach. He felt as though the black pentagram was laughing at him, taunting him. "It has to mean something…is it like the dark mark or…"

"Honestly Harry if it did mean something dark like that, do you think she'd display it freely on the back of her hand"

"But she usually wears a glove right? She only started wearing it after you said something about it, so it must mean something…"

"Harry…ah…" Hermione peered closer at the hand. "Is it…is it red?"

"Yes it is, so?" Harry replied, not really sure what Hermione was getting at.

"Strange…It's just…I could have sworn it was black before…"

"So there **is **something strange about it!"

"Harry, we shouldn't jump to…"

"No, listen. You said before it was strange right?"

"But…"

"Right?"

"Yes I did…" Hermione's voice trailed off in deep thought.

Harry decided to drop the potential, rising argument and look back at the sleeping girl. The cogs in his head were whirling. He went in a little closer to get a better look at her hand, only to jump up when he heard the words:

"What are you two doing here?"

Both Harry and Hermione looked up to see Draco Malfoy come into the room. "We're just visiting her. It **is **visiting hours." Hermione pointed.

"Well are you two done visiting?"

"We don't have to leave just because you're here."

"You two barely even like her anyways. Don't think you can fool me with those tacky flowers." Draco scoffed.

"And what about you Malfoy?" Harry retorted. "You don't act like you're friendly with her either. In fact you treat her terribly!"

"At least she likes me! I know for a fact she doesn't like you or Granger."

"Oi…you people…shut up." A groan came from the bed. Both Draco and Harry immediately stopped talking. Celina was squinting from where she laid. "What are you two doing here? Granger? Potter?"

"Actually, I was hoping you could answer some questions for me…" Harry started.

However, Celina cut him off. "Really? I just woke up. How long have I been sleeping?"

"Two days…" Hermione informed her.

"Two days?" Celina groaned. "Then I **really **don't want to talk to you right now. Besides, I feel like I'm hung over."

"Did Draco do something to you?" Harry shouted, leaving everyone else in silence.

"You realize that he's standing right there?"

"Will you just answer the question?"

Draco growled. "Will ever stop asking stupid questions?"

Celina sat up in the bed, feeling a bit dizzy, before saying, "He hasn't done anything wrong to me. You're crazy for thinking so." Harry couldn't believe it. He opened his mouth again, but Celina spoke again. "Now you and Granger leave me alone. I want to spend some time with Draco."

Defeated Harry left the room, with Hermione following closely behind. Celina's head hit the pillow in an instant. "You look terrible," Draco commented.

"Why thank you? There must be a reason why you're here to see me. What do you need now?"

Draco frowned. "I don't need anything. I was checking up on you."

She yawned. "Oh really?"

"Yes, really." He sat down in the now vacant chair beside her bed. "How on Earth did you collapse like that?"

"I collapsed…" She looked around before answering. "I think it was from sleep deprivation."

"Sleep deprivation! What the bloody hell have you been doing? If the work I've been giving you was too much you should have just said so…unless you're doing something else…"

Celina shook her head. "No…you remember that potion I gave you that day before I collapsed?" Draco nodded. "Well, I've been taking that for the past week or so."

His eyes widened slightly. "So you're basically saying that you haven't slept in a week."

"That's right…I was going to take some more of that potion after I gave some to you, but you drank the whole thing…"

"Are you stupid? If the work is too much then I'll just…"

"Pfft…are you joking? As if I'd get tired from the stuff you make me do. I haven't been sleeping much because I choose not to sleep."

"You really are an idiot. What good will you be to me if you're sleep-deprived?"

Celina chuckled. "And it always comes back to you doesn't it. I'm sorry for troubling you. I'll be sure to get more sleep from now, Master."

"Shhh! Do you want Madame Pomfrey to hear you?"

"But I thought you liked it when I called you that."

"Shut up. So why aren't you sleeping? There has to be a reason, if it's not for homework or something."

Celina looked away. "I'm tired. Can you leave now?"

Draco flared. "No! I want to know why and I want to know now. I order you to tell me!"

"Shhh! Madame Pomfrey will hear you." Celina mocked, her smile slowly faded. "I don't like to sleep, so I don't sleep."

He frowned. "That's it? What are you a child? Are you afraid of the monster living under your bed or something?" He laughed, but the laughter died when he realized that she wasn't laughing or smiling as well. "Are you serious?"

"There isn't a monster beneath my bed. There's a different reason why I don't like to sleep."

"Well, what is it?"

"I can't tell you."

"And why the bloody hell not?"

"I can't tell you…think of it as…I made an 'unbreakable vow' with someone I shouldn't have. That's the best way to describe it."

"So what is it? Another contract? I thought I was your only 'Master'."

"You guessed right. It's a contract, but whether or not I have another 'Master' I can't say."

Draco was mad with this new found information. He expected Celina's loyalty and energy to be devoted to him and him alone. Who was this other person? He got up to leave, but Celina stopped him. "Please don't leave me."

"I'm not going to stay with you all day. I have more important things to do."

Celina was beginning to look desperate. "Please…I can't sleep. If I sleep…I…" She choked a bit.

"C-calm down…" Draco was unsure of why she was beginning to panic. "I'll stay until you fall asleep then, you're tired aren't you."

She shook her head. "Don't let me sleep."

"What the hell are you gonna do! You can't keep taking that potion. You'll drop dead any minute. Just shut up and sleep."

She was quite for a moment and Draco thought he had won the argument, until she asked, "Will you hold my hand?"

"What?" He asked, wondering if he heard her correctly.

"Hold my hand."

"I'm not going to hold your hand. I'm not your mother or anything."

"Please Draco…I need you to hold my hand while I sleep." She held it out for him to take. Sighing, Draco actually conceded and sat beside her.

He took her hand in his. He raised an eyebrow. "What happened to the pentagram?"

"It turned red."

"I can see that…my question is why."

She closed her eyes. "I can't tell you." He unconsciously gripped her hand tighter out of frustration. "And Draco…"

"What?" He snapped.

"Thank you." She whispered, before slipping back into unconsciousness.

He felt odd, sitting beside her while holding her hand. If he had gone back in time and told his past self from a year ago that he would be in a situation like this, he would have laughed. However, he had to admit that it felt nice that he was really needed by someone, especially Celina. She had that air that she could do everything by herself; so Draco was partly happy about discovering this new fear, but not the trouble it brought along with it.

"Mr. Malfoy," Madame Pomfery called his attention. "I'm afraid you should leave her be now."

"I just got here!"

"That may be, but I believe Miss Elvira is suffering from sleep deprivation. I'd rather her not be disturbed."

"I'm just sitting here holding her hand. Celina was up a couple seconds ago. She asked me to stay with her while she sleeps!" He said angrily.

"I'm glad to see that you care for her greatly, but don't you have a class to go to?"

Draco glared. "She asked me to stay here."

"And I'm telling you to leave. She'll be safe here, Mr. Malfoy. There's no need to worry about her."

"You can give me as many detentions you want. I'm staying here with her."

Madame Pomfery sighed and gave up, retreating to her office. Draco returned his attention to Celina. This had better pay off in the long run; he was wasting a lot of time sitting there doing nothing but hold her hand.

* * *

_She couldn't open her eyes, but she wasn't scared at all. She felt at peace, mainly because she knew somebody was with her. She didn't know who it was, but they were holding her hand. It was as though she was drifting on many clouds._

_However, she felt the hand slip away and her eyes shot open. Darkness. Her eyes were open, but she couldn't see a thing. Dread rose within her as she got up from where she laid. The familiar sounds of clatter chains alerted her to the cuffs on her wrists._

"_My sweet Celina…it's been a while." Valafar said with a slightly amused voice, but Celina knew better. Valafar was anything but amused. "I'm surprised you were able to stay up for an entire week. I've been lonely without you…tell me Celina, did you miss me?"_

_She gulped unconsciously and remained silent. _

"_I asked you a question, my sweet Celina. You'd best answer me." He warned._

"_Of course I did."_

"_Liar." Valafar spat, anger and spite evident in his voice. There was a yank in her chain, pulling her down to the ground. "Was it nice having that boy holding your hand while you slept? You can't run from me Celina. Honestly, forcing yourself to stay up for a week? Did my warning scare you that much?"_

_She couldn't bring herself to move or say anything. "What did I say about answering my questions?" He demanded for her answer._

"_Yes," she barely whispered. _

"_My poor Celina," he cooed and a light turned on. Her eyes readjusted slowly and she turned her head towards the light's source. Valafar sat leisurely on a throne-like chair. Although he sat beneath this light, his face still remained unseen. "Come here Celina..."_

_Slowly she began to walk over to her master, but he stopped her. "Since when do bitches walk on two legs?"_

_Celina flinched before getting on her hands and knees and crawling the rest of the way. When she reached Valafar, he rewarded her with a pat on the head. "Good girl." He patted his lap. "Now up."_

_Scared beyond her wits she pulled herself up and into his lap. It was different now that she could see him. She couldn't bring herself to look at where his face would have been, so she stared into her lap. "You don't want to look at me? You sadden me. Why won't you look at me?"_

"_Because…I can't see you. I can't see your face."_

"_Would you like to see my face?"_

_The answer was "no", but God forbid she say it out loud. She knew for a fact Valafar wouldn't take kindly to it. "If you'd like to show it to me…"_

_She felt him take his fingers and tilt her chin upwards. Celina automatically gasped when she saw the face of Draco Malfoy. "Draco…?"_

"_Ha ha ha ha ha!" Valafar thundered with laughter as the face of Draco Malfoy was hidden by shadows once more. "The look on your face was priceless Celina…but, didn't like your reaction." His voice became serious. "How can you compare me to that human child? You're going to be punished thoroughly tonight…" He began to pet her hair as she beat herself up on the inside. How could she be so foolish? "Not to fret, I still love you just as much…what should I use today? The whip? Or chains?" She remained silent. "I have it…I'll use the knife."_

_Celina's face paled slightly. "It's been a while since I used the knife…"_


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Where am I going with this? I don't know anymore! (TT_TT) But I swear Imma finish this bloody story!**

* * *

**C****hapter Twelve**

Celina sat with her legs crossed. Her eyes were focused on her nails as she picked away at them. She felt there were very few moments like this…where she didn't have to think or worry about everything. In classes she can't afford to not pay attention…she needed to know what sort of information would be on the tests so she could make Draco study guides. During meal times she had to socialize with several different Gryffindors and sometimes with people from other houses. If she wasn't in class, eating, or doing homework, she'd be keeping an eye on the polyjuice potion she was brewing or one of the friends she made would drag her around talking about this and that. Sleeping wasn't a pleasant activity either. Valfar had taken to visiting her more and more often lately; each time he would leave more marks. Celina was starting to get tired annoyed with having to perform concealing charms every morning.

The only time she found peace was when she was with Draco working on the cupboard. She silently thanked the Gods that Draco was so prideful and wouldn't ask for her help unless he absolutely needed it or was absolutely desperate. Most of the time he'd be too busy fixing the cupboard to pay her any mind. Some days she'd do her homework in the room. Other days she'd simply sit and watch him. In Draco's presence…her mind felt at ease.

"Are you listening to me?"

"Yes."

Draco scoffed. "You obviously weren't. What did I say?"

"I'm not sure."

"There's something wrong with you." Draco said, turning away from the cabinet to give her his full attention. "You've been like this since that fainting incident in the dining hall."

Celina smiled. "You shouldn't worry about me Draco. You have yourself to worry about after all."

"I know that…but I have another idea."

"Hopefully this one is less foolproof?"

"It's good enough." He said stiffly. "I want to focus more on fixing this cabinet."

She shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "Your choice then. Do you need me for anything else or am I free to go?"

"Go ahead and leave if you want to so badly. I'm not going to keep you here," He spat, fed up with her behavior more than anything else. She slung her bag over her shoulder and left Draco alone with the cabinet. There was something off about her since she got out of the hospital wing. She was somewhat more reserved, focused or maybe she was preoccupied?

He really wanted to get to the root of the problem, but he didn't have time to worry about her. Then again, if he didn't attend to this problem early on, then perhaps it'll grow into a larger one later on? Sighing, he sat down. Now he couldn't even concentrate on the stupid cupboard. He had made some progress though. He was able to place an apple in the vanishing cabinet and receive it whole. However, once he put a small mouse inside, it came back with its head cut off. He couldn't deny the fact that he wouldn't have gotten this far without the notes and books Celina gave him. He wouldn't be passing his classes if she didn't do his homework for him or give him very well summarized notes for him to study for upcoming exams. If he needed her to be an alibi, then she would be his alibi. If he needed her to steal something from one of the teacher's offices, she did so without fail. She even made the polyjuice he asked for and ensured she had made enough. On top of it all, she managed to keep up with her own grades and have a social life so no one would find her as suspicious.

So what was it that bothered him? Celina had been doing what she was supposed to be doing for the past few weeks. There was no need to be upset or angry with her or was it…jealousy?

Draco coughed at the thought. No…not jealousy…more like annoyance. Her loyalty to someone other than him was what had been bothering him. Who was this mysterious third person? Would they be friend or foe? Did Celina hold this person to a higher regard than Draco? If so…that wouldn't do. That wouldn't do at all. Draco wanted…needed to be have a successful assassination. He wanted her attention on him at all times. Only him…and no one else.

His head jerked up when Celina returned to the room. He stared at her. "I…I forgot to put my potions book back in my bag." She explained, striding forward to sweep up the book. She pivoted as soon as it was in her hands and made way to leave the room a second time, but Draco's long fingers wrapped themselves around her small wrist. "We need to talk." He said seriously.

She simply yawned. "Can't we talk later?"

"No…we're talking now." He held up her hand with the pentagram. "What is this?"

Rolling her eyes, she answered. "It's the symbol of our contract."

"No…it's something more than that. Don't lie to me! Tell me what it is!"

"I already said I can't!" Celina snapped. "It's in my contract…I can't tell you…if I told you he'd…" Celina couldn't go on any farther.

"Who is 'he'? Well? I thought you could only have a contract with one person at a time!"

"I…" She paused a moment, debating on what would be safe to say and what wouldn't. "I…I can only make a contract…with one person at a time, but the contract I made with Him…it's because of that contract I'm able to make contracts with other people..." Celina looked down. "He…he is truly my master and will remain so until the end…" She shut her eyes closed and took a deep breath in. As she calmed herself, she glanced up at Draco. "My other contract isn't going to affect you in any way…so you should stay out of it. It'll be best for you and safer for you. Besides…you have other things to worry about…"

It started, a pain within in her head that caused her to fall to her knees. Her hands went to her head in pain.

"_Go ahead."_

"_Do it."_

"_See what I'll do…"_

"Oi! Elvira!" Draco moved to help her up, but she shouted. "Get away from me!"

"_Do it."_

"_Go ahead."_

"_Watch what will happen…"_

"_This is an order. Do it. Go ahead…"_

"STOP IT!" She began to shout. "STOP! STOP!" She now crumbled to the floor.

Draco immediately knelt down beside her. "Get a hold of yourself! Celina!"

However, it was as though she was someplace else, a place where his voice couldn't reach her. "Valafar….Valafar! Stop!""

"Who's that!" He began to shake her. "Who's Valafar! Celina!"

"Valafar! Valfar!" She continued to cry out. Her voice was starting to grow hoarse. "Valafar! Valafar!"

"Calm down Celina! Celina!" Draco began to shout. What was this? What was wrong with her? What on should he do? He took out his wand to cast a spell. "_Silencio." _

Her voice disappeared, but she was still curled up, her hands buried in her hair. Would it wear off? Or should he take her to the hospital wing? He reached out to touch her, his fingers barely grazed her cheek; she was burning up fast. Did he really have no other choice but to take her to the hospital wing?

He couldn't do that.

He couldn't.

Trying to think fast, he decided to take off her jacket and unbutton her shirt, in hopes that she'd cool down. Once he stripped her down he was shocked to see the numerous amounts of scars, cuts and bruises across her body. Some of them looked old, while others looked fresh, but none compared to the large inverted pentagram that seemed to be etched into her back.

This was out of Draco's hands; much to his dislike, only one person could help him now.

Severus Snape was slightly pleased to see Draco Malfoy, but not the person he happened to be carrying. He easily recognized the girl to be Celina Elvira. She was shirtless, so he could see the cuts and bruises upon her fair skin. She was also breathing heavily, he noticed the drops of sweat forming on her slightly red face. Fearing the worst, he asked. "What happened?"

"I didn't do anything to her!" Draco snapped. "We were talking and all of the sudden she started acting like this. She won't wake up."

"Bring her inside." He opened the door to his office a little wider to allow the two inside. "Set her in that chair." He ordered as he scuffled around, grabbing various vials and ingredients. Tossing them into a glass and stirring them together with his wand, he continued to question the young Malfoy. "What were you doing with Miss Elvira in the first place? If you have time to flirt with girls, I suggest you spend more time focusing on your mission."

"It's none of your business what we were doing! Just help her!"

"What does it look like I'm doing? My question is why you didn't take her to the hospital wing..."

"It's none of your business why…"

"It's every bit of my business. I made the unbreakable oath to your mother to protect you and yet you're running around with some girl associated with dark magic."

Draco frowned. "If you're talking about those rumors about the Elvira family…"

"Most rumors are based off some degree of truth Mr. Malfoy." Snape knelt before the girl and forced her to drink the contents of the cup. Her breathing seemed to ease a bit, even though her body was still shivering. "You can sense the dark magic that swirls around her. Do you even know the significance of the pentagram?"

Draco shook his head.

"I expected better from you Mr. Malfoy." He sighed, before explaining. "The pentagram is used in old forms of magic for summonings and rituals, however…" He turned Celina over so that Draco could see her back. "This pentagram on her back is inverted and is often connected to be a sign of the devil…if my deductions are correct, then she has been using old magic to summon a sort of devil or a demon."

"Professor, can you even hear yourself? That's just nonsense."

"Muggles have stories where witches and wizards exist, but they don't belief in their existence. We can't ignore this possibility. I'll have to inform Dumbledore of this."

"You can't do that!" Draco shouted. "She's mine. She's helping me."

"So you refuse my help, but you'll get the help of stranger?"

"It wasn't my decision to make, but since I have her under my command, I'm going to use her. You cannot tell Dumbledore of this."

"I don't think you realize what you've gotten yourself into Mr. Malfoy. By spending more time with her, you get closer to her. By getting closer to her, the more you put risk you put yourself at being exposed to her dark magic. What more…if the Dark Lord discovers this, what do you think will happen to the girl or to you?"


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: I'm now predicting maybe 5-7 more chapters until the end...I have about 4 chapters planned out in my head...it's just the matter of writing them out. (^_^)"  
**

**Thank you so much for reading!  
**

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

Her heavy eyelids opened slowly. Her entire body felt much too hard to move. Celina was completely void of energy and was stuck staring up at the ceiling. It looked rather familiar and that's when she realized that she was in the hospital wing. She managed to turn her head to the right to notice that white curtains had been drawn around her bed. She turned to her left to see the aged headmaster sitting idly twiddling his thumbs.

She groaned, alerting him. "I see that you're now awake Miss Elivra. I'm very glad that we didn't need to send you to St. Mungo's."

"Ah…"

"Not feeling too well I see…" He helped her sit up and handed her a flask. "Madame Pomfrey instructed me to have you drink this as soon as you woke up." Celina took the flask with no resistance. Its contents were drained slowly and caused her to make a face of disgust afterwards. "Yes…definitely not as refreshing as pumpkin juice, but it'll help you get better in the long run. However, first, Miss Elvira, I'd like to discuss with you what happened to you two nights prior."

"Two night ago…?" Celina repeated. She was dazed. Had she been sleeping all that time? "I don't remember. I was with Draco…then nothing…"

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "Do you think there is a possibility that Mr. Malfoy attacked you or…?"

"No!" Celina shouted immediately, surprising Dumbledore as well as herself. "Draco…he wouldn't do that…I must have fainted for some reason."

The headmaster now had a serious look on his face. "Miss Elvira, you and I both know very well that you did not faint. Please, I can help you, but you need to tell me what happened first."

She wasn't surprised with his plea. Regardless, she shook her head. "I can't. If I told you…I don't even want to think about what might happen to me if I told you…"

"Professor Snape has informed me his…theory concerning this matter. I took the liberty of examining your back myself. I'm surprised a witch as young as you has been meddling with such old, dark magic…but I guess I'm not too surprised. The youth are capable of many things after all. "

Celina was shaking her head the whole time Dumbledore was speaking. "I didn't know…I was too young to know…it was my mother and my grandmother…"

He took Celina's hand and gave her a good pat. "I know, I know, Miss Elvira. But if you can tell me more details about…"

"I can't. Even if you know the truth, I can't." She stared into her lap. "I just can't. He'll be so mad."

"And who might 'He' be?"

She swallowed before answering. "Valafar…you may only know his name…its Valafar."

"And Valafar is the…demon you have made a contract with?"

"Valafar…" She closed her eyes and shook her head again. "You may only know his name."

"Miss Elvira, I can help you. You just need to tell me more about Valafar."

"Do you not understand you stupid old man?" She shouted. "You can't break a contract made between a demon and a human! Even the demon who created the contract cannot break it!"

"But if we were to learn more of the contract, then perhaps we could break it…"

"He can hear every word you're saying, you know. He is with me always. You cannot fool him."

"We can always try. Have you ever tried?" He asked with a glint in his eye.

She frowned. "Have you been listening to a word I've said? He'll hurt me, torture me. I cannot disobey him."

"Has he ever tried to kill you?"

Celina simply shook her head. "He chooses not to. He'd rather wait for me."

"You know Miss Elvira, I remember having a conversation with your grandmother about this matter, many years ago. She told me of the old family story that passed down from generation to generation. It is said that one of your ancestors was in search for power and in desperation she used a summoning circle to call for the help of a demon. She was willing to trade her soul great power and knowledge. However the demon did not like the woman's soul. It was twisted and worth near nothing. So he proposed to her that in exchange for power and knowledge, she, and her descendants, must serve the demon faithfully until the day she died or until the contract was passed down to the next descendant, until he finds a soul he wants. It's tragic that the people of your family have resorted to passing down the contract to mere children in order to free themselves of this demon named Valafar."

Her eyes narrowed. "Don't throw old tales at me. That story is ancient."

Dumbledore arched his eyebrow. "But didn't you just mention something about your grandmother and mother in relation to this matter?" Celina bit her tongue. He smiled gently. "Don't mind the slip-up. It happens even to the best of us."

"Will you just take your stupid theory and leave? I don't want to talk about this any longer."

He shook his head. "I can't allow that, Miss Elvira. As a student at my school, I must ensure your safety and of those around you. I also want to inquire about your relationship to Draco Malfoy."

"He and I are friends. I realize that Gryffindors and Slytherins don't see eye to eye, but he and I are friends. We first met one another when we were kids."

"I do not deny the idea of the two of you being friends. In fact, I think Mr. Malfoy cares for you a great deal. He nearly shouted himself hoarse at Severus and Madame Pomfrey demanding he stay with you in the hospital wing. It's nice to see you have someone who cares for you as much as he does."

"Snape was here?"

"Instead of taking you to the hospital wing, Draco took you to Severus for help. I don't blame him; Severus is well informed about things of this matter…but please, tell me of your relationship to Draco."

Celina couldn't help but chuckle bitterly. "He and I are just friends, nothing more." Nothing more? Could she even consider being Draco's friend in the first place? There was a clear, distinct line between them: employer and employee, master and servant. Draco hated it when the line was ever crossed. If anything, Draco wanted to make sure she didn't spill the beans about his secret mission.

As if reading her mind, Dumbledore confessed. "I know about the task Mr. Malfoy has assigned to him the Dark Lord."

She did very well to mask her surprise. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You can say what you wish, but you can't counter my line of logic. I know what kind of work your family deals with…a sort of "do everything and anything" service. I found it funny that you decided to attend school this year, since your grandmother had died and Voldemort's return had finally gone public. However, when I noticed, and heard from the other professors, about the strange closeness between you and Mr. Malfoy, it clicked for me. You came to school for work, didn't you Miss Elvira?"

Celina folded her arms. "And what task would the Dark Lord use Draco for? He is a coward. You can smell it beneath his attitude. Is the Dark Lord really as great as he says he is, if he can't even notice such a glaring detail?"

"Perhaps that is the reason he chose Mr. Malfoy to carry out my assassination. Who would think Draco Malfoy would be capable of murder?"

"When and where did you hear this ridiculous rumor?"

"I can't tell you where I heard it from, but it is a credible source. I have known this to be true since the beginning of the year."

"And yet you still let me and Draco roam freely? Celina scoffed. "Isn't that at bit careless of you, headmaster?"

"I won't lie to you Miss Elvira; the time I have left in this life is numbered after all. I won't try stopping Malfoy just yet."

It felt as though Celina was developing a headache. This guy was a crackpot old fool. But, if he said he wasn't going to do anything, then she shouldn't waste her time worrying about it. "Whatever…can you just leave now?"

"I guess I've questioned you enough for one day," Dumbledore sighed, standing up. "Of course, I'd like you to keep this conversation between you and me. There's no need to alert Mr. Malfoy that I know of his plans…"

"I can't keep anything from Draco…"

"By aiding Draco, you are siding with Lord Voldemort. Tell me Miss Elvira, do you truly believe in what Voldemort believes in?"

Celina was silent for a long moment before answering. "It doesn't matter what I believe. What happens to the people here, to the wizarding world or the muggle world…none of it matters anymore. I'm not a part of this world anyways. My soul has already been sold…" With each word she uttered, a tear began to fall. She fought the back, snuffling and wiping them away.

Dumbledore gazed on her sadly. In truth…there was a very slim chance that something could be done to help her. "You should rest Miss Elvira. I think most classes should be done by now…"

As if on cue, Draco came rushing into the hospital wing. "Professor…" He was surprised to see Dumbledore standing beside Celina's bedside.

"Don't worry, I just finished speaking with her. I hope this won't happen again anytime soon…" He said, leisurely making his way towards the door.

Draco didn't fail to notice the tears and sniffles, but decided not to bring it up. Instead he sat down on the edge of her bed, letting her compose herself.

"So, what did he say to you?" He asked.

"He just asked what happened."

This answer wasn't satisfactory. "Then why the bloody hell were you crying?"

"If you're just going to be upset with me, then leave. I'm not in the mood right now."

Draco glared. "I'm the one who gives the orders around here."

"You don't understand. There's no point anymore. I go around doing this for people. I go around doing that for people. I'm just a sitting duck waiting to be shot," She buried her face in her hands. "He should just take my life now. Why does He wait?"

"Do you think I'm not scared shitless to?" Draco whispered harshly. "If I don't do this right…"

Celina glared at him. "I'm not talking about the Dark Lord…I'm talking about Him. The Dark Lord doesn't compare to Him. You…you still have a chance. You're not like me."

"A chance? To what? Get away? I seriously doubt that; I'd be dead the moment I even **think **of running."

"At least you have to choice, I'm bound. My soul is bound. I have no choice," She spat.

Silence ensued. Celina's hands gripped the sheets tightly, while Draco's fist curled so tightly that his nails made imprints into his palm.

"I was so happy when you and your mother came walking through my door." Celina said softly, hands relaxing. "I had an idea of what you came in for; I read the cards and they told me that you would bring me change. So when your mother wanted me to attend Hogwarts with you…I was happy, happy that I could taste what it's like to be a teenager." She looked into his grey eyes. He could see her sincerity.

"Have you guessed yet? The person that I am forever bound to? Dumbledore told me that Snape was with you; No doubt Snape would be able to guess in an instant."

"S-so it's true then? It's a devil? A demon?"

She nodded sadly. "His name is Valafar."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Gah...I don't have my HBP copy with me...it's at home, so I'm sorry if I recalled Slughorn's party incorrectly!  
**

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**Chapter Fourteen**

Fall came and went as winter crept in. Soon enough the leaves had fallen from the trees and the grounds were covered in a glittering white. Celina sat alone in one of the many courtyards. She wasn't doing anything in particular. All she wanted to do was clear her head. The rooms in the castle were almost stifling with their roaring fires. She enjoyed the crisp winter air more, even though it tended to nip at her now rosy cheeks. Celina found the only time she could clear her mind was when she was by herself. Valafar has been speaking to her more often lately, during classes or when she was talking with other students. It was a wonder nobody found that she was acting strangely, because she felt like she was going to go mad.

Of course, Celina didn't fail to notice Draco's recent taking to avoiding her lately. Although he was the first "customer" to discover her secret, this didn't surprise her really. After all, who wouldn't have been scared? It was like Valafar kept whispering to her. _"Can you even consider yourself human? You don't belong here. The only place you belong to is by my side."_

Celina sighed, breathing out from her mouth. She watched her breathe rise in the cold air, before it disappeared completely.

"_If they all knew, like Draco knows, they'd reject you. You can only depend on me."_

She closed her eyes, trying to keep such thoughts at bay. When she opened her eyes again, she noticed another student now stood across the yard. His green eyes met her blue ones and locked for a moment, until Celina got up from where she sat and began to walk away.

"Hold on! Wait a minute!"

Celina ignored the shouts tried the best she could to get away from him without running. She cursed herself when he caught up to her and held her firmly by the wrist so she couldn't get away. "What is it now Potter?"

"Ah…"

She raised an eyebrow. "If it isn't anything important, can't you leave me alone? I swear, every time I talk to you I end up defending myself against some silly accusation of yours."

"I was just going to…"

"And like, you already interrogated me after I came out of the hospital wing. Will you just drop it?"

"I was going to ask what you were doing outside. It's freezing," Harry finally said without her interrupting.

"Oh really? Well, aren't you so kind?" she rolled her eyes, not believing him for a second. "Wasn't it obvious what I was doing? I was sitting."

"Why aren't you off with Malfoy somewhere?"

She glared. "See? Our conversations **always **manage to go back to Malfoy, don't they? I don't spend every waking moment with the guy, so I don't know why you're asking."

Harry became serious. "I think it's odd you two haven't been seen together since you got out of the hospital wing."

"Is it really that odd or is that big head of yours deluding itself? Draco and I had a little spat is all."

"Have you finally realized what a prat he is?"

Celina's nostrils flared. "Draco isn't anything like you think he is so lay off him! Besides, friends argue all the time; this isn't unnatural."

"Come off it. You were practically gushing about him earlier in the year, but now the two have you haven't spoken to one another in weeks."

"And how on earth do you know that Potter?" Celina retorted. "Been keeping an annoyingly close eye on me? Are you my stalker now or something? Are you so fascinated by me that you have to know what I'm doing every second of every day?" She tore her wrist from his grasp. "I've had it with you trying to butt yourself into things that aren't even your business. I'm telling you this for the last time Potter: don't talk to me unless we're unfortunate enough to be partnered up in one of our classes or it's an absolute emergency."

With that she stormed off down the corridor. She took a sharp right, bumping into someone. "Ah…sorry…"

She made way to leave, but the person stopped her. "Hey, I was looking for you."

"Oh, Draco." Celina realized. He seemed to forget what he was there for, since he said nothing. "So…what did you want?"

"I-I wanted you to come with me; you've been avoiding me lately."

"**I've** been avoiding you? I'm pretty sure it was the other way around."

"No **you've **been avoiding me. You won't even look me in the eyes."

"How on Earth can I when you don't even look at me?"

Both stood glaring at one another, until Celina began laughing. Strangely enough, tears came out of her eyes as well. Startled, Draco took a few steps back. "What on Earth are you laughing for?"

"I-I'm not sure…" She managed between spouts of giggles.

The sound of her laughter startled him slightly. For some reason it felt as though it had been ages since he heard it. He'd become accustomed to Celina's recent toned down demeanor. He didn't realize how much she had changed since coming to Hogwarts…and this was all because of the demon within her, right?

Her face felt as though it was glowing. "I guess I'm just happy. I thought you'd ignore me."

Upon Draco's cheekbones, a hint of red showed. He coughed, before turning to face away. "I was just a bit shocked. Any one in their right mind would be! Besides I've been busy anyways." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Are you coming or not?"

Celina smirked. "Do I have a choice, Master?" She teased.

"Just come on…" He pulled her towards a more secluded area and the two began walking side by side. "I need more PJ…"

"And what the bloody hell is PJ?"

Draco glanced around, before whispering. "Polyjuice potion."

Celina couldn't help but laugh to this. "You're joking. I don't remember agreeing to PJ for a codename…"

"Will you just get to it?"

"Already done…I've had it in storage for a while now. I'll bring you some tomorrow."

"And I need you to do my homework for me, I've fallen behind."

"Just give it to me and it'll be done before you know it."

"We also have tests before the winter break, so if you could make a study guide or something…."

"I leave you for a couple of weeks and seems like you've fallen apart," Celina chuckled.

He glared. "I haven't. Not yet…it's just…" Draco stopped walking. "I'm just getting really anxious right now." He said, dropping his voice down to a whisper again. "What if it doesn't work? What if I can't fix the cabinet in time?"

"If you ask me, you don't have time to think about such things. You just have to do your best, because that's all you can do…but I'm a bit worried." Celina admitted. "Don't you think you need a break or something? You look worse than I last saw you." Celina noted. Draco did look slightly paler than usually and now that she was up close to him, she noticed the bags beneath his eyes. "You know Slughorn is going to be having a sort of Christmas party and the members of the Slug Club are allowed to bring a guest. You should come with me."

"Haven't you heard anything I just said? I don't have time for that…"

"But if you work on it day and night, you'll just tire yourself out, physically and mentally. Then you'll find yourself getting nowhere. You should take a break."

"I said I am not taking a break. That's final." Draco spat.

"Fine…so….PJ, homework and study guides...that's all you need right?"

"I finished the essay for Defense already, so you don't need to do that one." He muttered.

"Alright, I'll get to it then." Celina left Draco alone in the corridor. He sighed to himself, before heading to the Room of Requirement.

* * *

Slughorn's party was much more extravagant than Celina expected. The decorations were lovely, refreshments were good, and there were many people there. Many of these said people were noted witches and wizards of society. She knew that Slughorn had connections, but she didn't realize just how many until tonight.

"Celina." A voice said softly behind her.

She turned to face him. "Hi Blaise. I won't lie, Slughorn has really impressed me with this party…"

"I didn't think you were coming tonight."

"Well, I could say the same to you. You look sharp in your dress robes."

Blaise coughed. "You look nice tonight as well." Celina wore a red halter dress that stopped just past her knees. Her long brown hair was swept into a low side ponytail.

"Thank you Blaise. Did you invite someone?"

"I did…" he paused for a moment. "Her name is Ebony. She's the girl in the dark green dress over there." He pointed to a dark haired girl laughing with a couple of people.

"It's nice to see that she's enjoying herself."

"What about you Celina? Did you invite someone?" Blaise asked.

Celina sighed. "I invited Draco, but he didn't want to come, so I decided to come by myself."

"Oh, so you two are talking again. That's good. Draco was a near wreck when you two had that row…"

Celina raised eyebrow. This was interesting news to her. "Really?"

Blaise shifted, looking a bit uncomfortable. "I really shouldn't say, but…I noticed he was really irritable for the past few weeks, especially if someone mentioned your name. It was a bit odd. I mean, I don't really know how to describe how he was acting. He was mad, but not exactly, if that makes any sense at all. Are you sure you two aren't dating?"

"We're just really close that's all."

"Yeah… 'That's all'." Blaise snorted. "Draco is rarely close to anyone. It's weird that you just came out of the blue, but I guess you and Draco both have made your point that it's not my place to pry. If you excuse me, I'm going to go steal my date back from those guys over there." He gave a curt nod goodbye and took off.

Celina wondered around the room, taking up small conversations with a few people here and a few people there. Around thirty or thirty-five minutes later, she retreated to a corner with a glass of pumpkin juice. She was a bit alarmed when a man stood quite close to her. If she wasn't mistaken, this was the rumored vampire she'd heard some of the guests whispering about. He was rather tall, now that she stood side by side next to him, but she could still catch a glimpse of the dark shadows beneath his eyes.

She jumped when he spoke. "You are Celina Elvira, correct?"

"Yes…yes I am."

"Your grandmother helped me many years ago. I'm sorry to hear of her lose. My name is Sanguini."

"It's very nice to meet you…and thank you for your condolences." She dipped a tiny curtsy.

"Your grandmother has always been kind to people…like me." He went further to explain. "Sometimes I feel that I owe more to her than I gave. That's why I'd like to give you some advice, if you will listen."

Celina blinked, a bit taken aback. "Of course."

"Miss Elvira, I'm a bit aware of the situation that your family's been in. I don't know the details of the matter, but your grandmother had once spoken of it to me, very vaguely of course…" He paused for a moment. He watched the people before him, collecting his thoughts together. "I have lived many years in a world of darkness. In the beginning I admit that I felt that I was doomed to live such a cursed life forever, but after a while…you get used to it I guess. Even though I was surrounded by darkness, I was able to find a light, hope, something that reminded me to keep moving forward." He turned to face her. "There is hope for you yet Miss Elvira. I'm sure you will find it."

"Thank you. This was…r-really unexpected." Celina felt a bit flustered, but happy too that he was trying to encourage her, lift her spirits. However, he didn't know the whole truth of the matter. He didn't know about Valafar. "This is very kind of you."

"Don't put too much thought into it," He said, leaving her side. "Until we meet again."

"Yeah…" Celina was still in a bit of shock.

"There you are Celina," Blaise walked up to her with a grin. "Would you like to dance? I don't think I've seen you take up the dance floor yet."

Celina snapped out of her shocked state, grinning back at Blaise. "And what about your date?"

"Well, after seeing you talk to Mr. Vampire, she gathered the courage to have a go with him herself. I didn't know you had a thing for vampires."

"For your information, he's the one who came up to me."

"Sure, sure, coming or not? I'm quite the dancer." He held out his hand.

"Alright, alright."

It seemed as though they'd barely gotten started, when a ruckus began. Through the doors burst in Filch dragging Draco into the room. "Slughorn, a party crasher. I found him snooping around here! He says he was invited."

Draco opened his mouth to explain, but Celina beat him to the punch. "I did! He told me he couldn't come…" She ran up to hug him. "I'm so glad you made it! You could have dressed up a little better though…"

Slughorn clapped his hands together. "So that's how it is. Well, Filch I guess there's no harm done here. Let's return to enjoying the festivities."

"Not so fast," Snape said, walking up to Celina and Draco. "I'd like to speak to Mr. Malfoy in private."

"Come now Severus, it's Christmas. Besides, he's Celina's guest so…"

"Regardless of what Miss Elvira says, I'd still like to speak to Mr. Malfoy. I have a matter I'd like to discuss with him."

"Fine," Draco agreed.

Celina frowned. "But Draco…"

"It's fine Elvira. Just go back to dancing with Blaise." He muttered, following Snape out the room

The party was still a bit silent, before going back into the swing of things. Celina didn't move from her spot. Her eyes were still locked on the door Draco just left through.

"Celina…are you alright?" Blaise now stood beside, a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes…let's just continue shall we?"

Blaise smiled and led her back to the dance floor. Celina tried to enjoy herself, but something bothered her. There was something wrong with Draco. She could hear it in his voice.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Just finished school so I'm going to get back into the swing of things in regards to this story. This is kinda one of those bridging chapters in mind, so bear with me...we're almost nearing the end~!**

* * *

**Chapter Fifteen**

"You're angry. You've been like this since the Christmas party."

"I've already told you. I'm just tired…" Malfoy mumbled for what felt like the umpteenth time.

Celina frowned. "Then I don't see why you don't just let me work on the cabinet while you take a few days off. I told you something like this would happen if you work on it too much."

"I'm not letting you do it. I **have** to do this," he snapped. "Besides I'm not just tired…"

"Then what is it? Why can't you just tell me?" Celina urged.

"Why can't you just use your powers to read my mind or the future or something?" He retorted.

She flinched as she recalled the last couple of days. She was trying to use her crystal ball, but she could see nothing in its cloudiness. Thinking it must have only been an off day, she turned to her tarot cards, but even those readings seemed off no matter how many times she repeated them. "I…I can't…" She said slowly. "I can't use my powers anymore."

Draco stopped what he was doing. Alarmed, he spun around. "What do you mean you can't!"

"My powers…they aren't mine to control…" She started slowly, not sure how to explain exactly. "You've heard the rumors right, concerning the Elviras and their magical power? Those extraordinary powers and extensive knowledge…they were never ours to begin with…so the magic and powers aren't really ours to control…" Celina glanced at him expectantly.

A light bulb went off. "They belong to Valafar," Draco guessed correctly.

Celina nodded. "He's become so restless in the past few months. It's a bit unnerving. He's always been quieter before…"

"How long? How long has it been since you…you know…"

"Form a contract?" Celina asked. "I was very young, maybe seven or eight years old. Even though the contract wouldn't be fully completed until my grandmother died, I could still feel his presence around me. Some nights I dreamt of him. Other times I could hear his voice. I've never heard him as often as I do now. I wonder if it's because he's been passed to me in full or if…" Her voice died off.

Draco frowned. "If what?" He demanded to know. If something dangerous happened, then it could hinder his mission.

"If…the time for me to join him is close." She finished. Her eyes avoided contact with Draco's.

"By joining him…you don't mean…"

Celina nodded, knowing what Draco was hinting at. "When I die, my soul will be freed from my physical body. When that happens, Valafar will take me…"

Draco tried brushing it off. "Just because you have a 'feeling' doesn't mean it's true. Besides, you're mine now, so Valafar can't take you anywhere. Magical contracts are powerful. I doubt even Valafar can break the one between us…"

"Thank you Draco." She hugged him from behind. Draco's body quickly tensed, before relaxing. "Get off me."

She shook her head, and then pressed it against his back. "Just a little longer," She murmured.

Draco didn't yell or protest in anyway. He simply allowed Celina to have her moment. To his surprise he didn't feel too mad or upset about it. In fact he liked that he was the one being depended on and she was the one who needed the support. However, had it been anyone else, would he have felt the same way?

"Draco, I was wondering…how did you normally celebrate New Year's Eve?"

"What?"

"I was just wondering," Celina repeated. "Since tonight is New Year's Eve."

She was right. It was New Year's Eve, about half the school year has already passed. It was strange. To him it felt like the days had dragged on for hours on end, and yet it was already New Year's Eve. Normally, he'd be at home in the Manor, helping prepare for the New Year's party. But this year, that wouldn't be the case, and Draco felt that wouldn't be the case the next year or the year after. As long as Voldemort was around, could his family's life really go back to the way it had been?

When Draco didn't respond, Celina unwrapped her arms around him and sat on a nearby chair. "I've only ever celebrated holidays with my grandmother. On New Year's Eve we cleaned the house all day, to prepare for the energy of the New Year to flow into our home. Naturally, I had come to hate New Year's Eve as a kid. I hated cleaning the house all day long from roof to floor," She laughed at the memory. "My grandmother would never stay up with me to countdown to the New Year. I don't blame her though, since she was rather old. Instead I stayed up by myself and watch the sky light up from my bedroom window. The muggles always set off fireworks when the clock strike's twelve. Even though they didn't have magic, the fireworks seemed magical or maybe because they couldn't use magic to create the fireworks, the fireworks seemed all the more beautiful. Of course…the mood wasn't that romantic when I could hear the drunken muggles shouting in the street below." She ended up laughing.

Her laughter alone seemed to have some sort of charming affect. "What else did you do?" He found himself asking.

"For New Year's? That's pretty much it. So tell me about your family. You're rich so you must have done something better…"

"Well, my family never did anything special really. We usually just throw a sort of New Year's party ever year and invite other families to the manor. I swear Mother always turned into a demon around this time of year. She goes absolutely crazy about the decorations, refreshments, the music playing, and etcetera. Father and I have learned that it was best to stay out of her way while she went into her party preparations rampage. It was never really safe until the night of the party. She'd revert back to her usual self as though she hadn't been acting completely mad for the past week…but, I think you would have enjoyed the parties. I mean…it seems like something you would like."

"Yeah…we should have our own party!" Celina exclaimed.

Draco rejected the idea immediately. "No, I already told you I just want to work on the cabinet."

"But you didn't get to dance with me at Slughorn's party."

"We're not having a party. What kind of party only has two people in it? Besides, there's hardly enough room here as it is."

Celina frowned. "But didn't you say this was the Room of Requirement? That means it can change for what we need."

As though hearing Celina, the room around them began to transform. The random pieces of junk and forgotten items were replaced with a large white room. On one side of the room was a rack of dress robes, on the other side was a rack of dresses. In the back an arrangement of instruments were automatically playing a waltz.

"Celina, I told you I didn't want this!" Draco spouted angrily.

"The room believes otherwise. Besides, this is like the room agreeing with me: you're working too much. We should have some fun." She started going through the rack of dress robes. "This will look sharp on you, don't you think?" Celina held up the dress robes in front of Draco to get a better view of it.

He knocked the robes aside. "Isn't it tiring?"

Her grin faded. "What are you talking about?"

"Aren't you forcing yourself? That grin that was on your face? Your cheerful mood? Isn't forcing yourself tiring?" Even though he didn't look it, Draco could be observant or rather, it was obvious that her smile was being forced.

"Isn't it better this way though? I think it's better to try to be happy, to try to enjoy the time I have left…"

"But as long as you're my servant…"

"Our contract will end by the end of the school year Draco." She reminded him.

"Then I'll get another one."

Celina shook her head. "You can only find my shop if you're in dire need of me and my services."

"I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find your bloody shop again," Draco scoffed snatching the robes from Celina's hands. "Well turn around! I'm not going to change in front of you."

She laughed, before going over to pick a dress. Her hands came across a light blue one. The material was like satin and it felt like it glided on her body as she put it on.

"Can I look now?" Draco asked. His eyes were shut so she could change.

"Yeah, go ahead. Look." Celina did a little spin to show off the dress. "So…how do I look?"

Draco observed her up and down before muttering, "Good."

She found herself laughing again. "Is that all? You sure now how to make a girl feel special Draco," she said sarcastically. "Now all we need is some music…"

On cue, a piano and a few stringed instruments popped out of nowhere. Slowly they all began to play together in harmony. "There we go! This room is brilliant!"

She grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him to the center of the room. Naturally he was a bit hesitant, but complied anyways. The next thing he knew Celina was leading him in a circular waltz. "Oi, I'm supposed to be leading."

Celina giggled. "Then lead."

Resisting to step on Celina's foot on purpose, Draco to charge. He never liked dancing, so he certainly didn't like the waltz. It seemed so pointless dancing around in circles. Most of the time he'd just zone out, but Celina looked him straight in the eyes, demanding his full attention. Her eyes were just an ordinary blue, and yet it was as though there was a hidden magic within them that pulled Draco in.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself." Celina smiled.

"Hardly…"

"Really? Would you rather me dancing with someone else?"

Draco glared. "I told you not to get close to anyone. So why Blaise?"

Celina smirked. "I said nothing about Blaise…"

"W-well I did…" Draco muttered, a bit flustered.

She rested her head on his shoulder. "Blaise and I are just friendly. That's all. I haven't disobeyed any of your orders. If I had then it would be obvious, since I'd be breaking our contract."

Draco stopped and the two simply stood close to one another. She was looking up at him again, so his eyes began to dart about to find something else to focus on. His eyes caught onto the cluster of white berries growing above the two. Celina looked a bit quizzical. "What are you looking at?"

In panic Draco took his hands and forced her to look only at him. "It's nothing!"

Her eyes were wide before she grinned and whispered. "You're really bad at lying." Moving forward, she closed the distance between their lips.

For a few moments, Voldemort didn't exist and neither did Valafar. For the first time in a long time, all felt right with the world.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I feel so lazy...but I'm so close to finishing this story...like 3 or 4 more chapters depending on how it works out in the end...**

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen**

Celina couldn't lie. Things had been…different between her and Draco after that event during New Year's Eve. It had been about three months since then. Every time she saw Draco afterwards, her heart would skip a beat for a few seconds, since she wasn't sure how he felt about it or if he felt anything about it at all. The atmosphere around them was safe for the most part…almost too safe for her liking. Conversations would go as the following:

"Hey Draco."

"Elvira."

"I finished the homework for next week."

"Good."

"So…are you in dire need of anything else?"

"Not right now."

"Okay…well I can't come tonight because Parvarti and Lavender want to hold a study session for the test at the end of the week."

"Fine."

It was as though the two of them were treading carefully to avoid slipping into that subject, that idea of the two of them possibly…

She sighed to herself. To be honest, she had no idea what to make of situation, even if she was acting as normal as she possibly could, Draco was obviously affected somehow. Sure he could carry on an ordinary conversation, but there was something off. Of course, leave it to fate that the two of them would end up late to Potions and paired together as partners as default.

"Hey! Watch the…!" Celina started to yell, since the potion in the cauldron was starting to over-boil. She put down the knife she was holding and began to bring the temperature of the fire down beneath the cauldron. "Draco, aren't you…" She trailed off when she caught a glimpse of Draco. He looked very tired. "Do you wanna go to the hospital wing?"

Draco seemed to snap out of his daze. "I'm fine. Just put the slugs in already.

Frowning, Celina could only oblige. "There's no way we're going to be getting a perfect score with this." She pointed out referring to the potion they were brewing.

"You just take over then."

Celina was taken aback. "Right…"

"Alright everyone stop stirring!" Slughorn announced and began making rounds to all the tables to check the potion everyone made. When he got to Celina's and Draco's table, he had a large frown on his face. "I expect better from you two. Just because you're late doesn't mean you can slack off and get away with it. If something like this happens again you two will have earned yourselves a detention."

"Yes sir." The couple mumbled.

Slughorn turned to the rest of the class. "I'd like everyone to put a sample of their potion on my desk for further evaluation. Next Tuesday there'll be about the various properties of wolfsbane and how we've used it in our class up to this point." Everyone groaned as they already began to pack their things away.

Draco seemed to be packing his things at light speed. Celina had to practically sprint out the dungeon door in order to catch up with him by the time she finished packing away her things. "Draco! Draco wait!" She shouted, catching by grabbing his cloak.

"I've got things to do Elvira."

"Stop being a dick. I'm coming along to help you." She frowned.

"I don't need your help right now."

"You **always **say that."

"Just help me by writing that essay for me okay?" Draco sighed.

"Face it Draco, you look terrible. Have you even been sleeping? Do you want me to give you some awakening potion again?"

He tugged himself away from her. "Will you just go do something? I swear, we're going to end up looking like we're having a lover's spat or something…" The last part of his sentence trailed off with a grumble.

Celina suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable, but took Draco's hand anyways. "It's not like it's all that bad of a thing anyways…" she mumbled, before speaking up. "Today I'm going to help you Draco."

He managed to look away from her eyes and began pulling her behind him. "Then let's go. I hate making a scene."

Celina smiled, but stopped walking immediately. She crouched down towards the ground.

"Celina!" Draco shouted, causing some nearby students to stop and stare.

Her free hand was gripping her head, her fingers twitching every so often. "I-I'm fine." She pulled herself up.

"You can hear him, can't you?" Draco whispered.

Celina nodded. "All he does is speak…he hasn't visited me or anything lately…but that only scares me more." She repeated.

"Then go rest or something. I can take care of things on my own for now."

"But you've finally agreed for me to help you better!"

"Just go back to your common room." He ordered, leaving her alone in the corridor.

Blaise walked up to her. "Are you alright? Heard Draco shout your name from inside the classroom."

"Yeah, I'm fine." She sighed.

"That's good." He smiled, before shifting a bit awkwardly. "Listen, you've heard about Weasley right?" He asked, dropping his voice a few levels.

"You mean…Ron Weasley?"

"Yeah him. I heard he's in the hospital wing. He was poisoned or somethin'. I just thought I'd let you know so you can pass on to Draco that he ought to be more careful with whatever it is you two are doing. Teachers are gonna be more wary now."

"Th-thanks…" She managed, wondering if Draco really was behind the poisoning of Weasley.

Waving goodbye to Blaise, she made her way back to the Gryffindor common room alone. On the way she saw the backs of Parvarti, Lavender and Seamus. She ran to catch up with them. "Hey guys, I heard that Ron Weasley was in the hospital wing?"

"What!" The two girls shrieked.

"When did that happen? How come I wasn't notified?" Lavender wailed.

"I…I didn't know that you didn't know." Celina said, a bit taken aback.

"I'm surprised you didn't know." Seamus said to Lavender. "You being his girlfriend and all, especially when lots of people been talking about it. Apparently he was with Harry at Slughorn's office for some reason. Slughorn gave them something to drink and down Ron went. I think he'll be okay. I pretty sure he's in the hospital wing now."

Without further ado Lavender began running to the hospital wing. Celina hurried off as well, but to the room of requirement. Her thoughts flew back to the Christmas party Slughorn threw. Was that the reason Draco was sneaking around? She knew he'd use her poison, but she didn't think he'd come up with a plan that could easily go wrong.

She hurriedly walked three times in front of the wall and burst through the door.

"Draco!"

"Celina!"

"Draco! Ron Weasley is in the hospital from ingesting poison he got while visiting Slughorn!" She shouted.

Draco, on the other hand, didn't seem as alarmed. "So you heard about it? It's not that bad…he isn't dead right? He wasn't even taken to St. Mungo's."

"Was that what you were doing at Slughorn's party?" She questioned. "Sneaking in some poison mead?"

"Obviously," Draco muttered, annoyed that she heard about Weasley's poisoning. Of course, it was only a matter of time before she would. "Apparently your poisons don't do that good of a job."

Celina frowned. "They were in Slughorn's office. No doubt there was a bezoar lying around and let me tell you something: usually people don't have a bezoar lying around. If it wasn't for that my poison would have worked perfectly fine. Besides you were the one who stole it in the first place…think of it as karma."

Draco's hands twitched and he stood up. "It's not like I stole it."

"Yes you did. The night you and your mother walked into my shop." She crossed her arms. "I did not bring any of my poison vials with me and I did not give you any. You stole it and the funny thing is that's not really annoys me. What annoys me is the fact that the poison didn't even meet Dumbledore's lips."

"How would I know that Slughorn would keep it to himself? Let alone give it to Weasley."

"You should have just delivered it to Dumbledore personally. If things keep going like this, you're going to end up killing one of the other students instead!"

He turned on her. "And what? Get arrested?"

"It wouldn't matter if you made a run for it afterwards. I'm starting to think you shouldn't have agreed to take up this job offer in the first place. It's impossible for you."

"No its not, I just need more time!" Draco defended himself.

"You've had time!" She pointed out. "And so far you nearly killed two people in the process! Furthermore you never seem to want more of my help. I don't get what you're thinking! "

"This isn't easy you know!"

"Of course I know that." She said quickly. "You should have thought of that in the beginning."

"What could I have done? Refuse the Dark Lord?" Draco laughed at the idea. "That's rich. I can't refuse him. My family's life is at stake."

Celina sighed. "In the beginning you were very confident of yourself, but I've seen you crumbling slowly as the weeks go by. There's so much more I can do for you if only you would let me."

He shook his head. "I have to do this myself. Get out."

"Draco…"

"Just go." He demanded. Why couldn't she understand? His pride, it wouldn't allow more of her interference. Besides, didn't she have her own problems to worry about?

Celina was steaming as she practically barged into the Gryffindor common room. Parvarti and Lavender, who were sitting in a couple of chairs in the corner of the room, looked at her surprised. "Celina, what's wrong with you?"

She slumped into one of the empty chairs. "Draco."

"Again? Honestly, you've been hanging around him since the beginning of the year; if he isn't interested in you by now, you should just forget him." Lavender said, stacking her tarot cards into a stack. "I mean, not everyone can have such a loving relationship like me and Won-Won do!"

"How is Ron anyways? Getting any better?" Celina grumbled.

"Madam Pomfrey has told me he'll get better with time, but whenever I go to see him he's always sleeping."

"Is that so? I'm sure he'll be up sooner or later…"

"Oh, but I'm just so worried about him!" Lavender whined.

Parvarti resisted rolling her eyes, finding more interest in Celina's problems. "Listen up Celina. Draco Malfoy…he's not worth your time or energy. Have you seen yourself in the mirror lately? You've been looking terrible." She grinned adding. "Besides don't you think that Zabini would be a better choice anyways? Since it seems like you have a thing for Slyterhins…"

"First of all…I'm pretty sure he's going out with that Ebony girl. I haven't hung out with him lately because he's been spending a lot of time with her. Second of all, believe or not, I'm not really interested in dating anybody right now. I have a lot of things on my mind."

"Correction," Lavender chimed in. "One person on your mind."

Celina crumpled up a piece of parchment on the table and threw it at Lavender. "Stuff it."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: A rather short chapter I realize and I apologize. Summer break and all has made me SUPER lazy. I'm going to start typing the next chapter after posting this. **

* * *

**Chapter Seventeen**

Celina set down her quill and stretched her arms over head. Stifling a yawn, she slumped on the table she was working at in the library. She was only able to get a few moments of sleep when somebody knocked on the table top. Groaning, she glanced up at the person who wanted her attention.

"I've figured it out," announced a very triumphant looking Harry Potter.

She raised an eyebrow. "Figured what out?"

"What Malfoy's been up to!"

"And what, pray tell, is Draco up to?" She asked.

Harry had no answer. "Well I don't know exactly, but he's up to something and you can't deny it! He's been sneaking off the Room of Requirement, and you, Crabbe and Goyle have been helping him with whatever he's been doing in there."

Celina stared at him for a moment, silently laughing at the look of triumphant in his eyes. "So? Do you have any proof?"

"No, but…"

"If you don't have any proof then you're wasting your breath." She said coolly, returning to the paper she was writing.

Containing his anger the best he could, Harry sat in the seat across from Celina. "Look, I know we sort of started off on the wrong foot but…"

"Sort of?" Celina raised an eyebrow. "Just about every time we talk, you end up harassing me."

"I'm sorry, okay? But don't you realize what you're doing…or rather…er…I guess…if you are helping Malfoy, then you're helping Voldemort. Don't you realize what that means? So many people are suffering, **dying** because of him." Harry tried to explain himself.

He got upset when Celina began to laugh. "You really are a good person, you know that? A true Gryffindor. A true…hero?" She set her quill down a second time. "Listen Potter, this war the Dark Lord has started…it doesn't concern me."

"What do you mean by that! You're a witch! You…"

"Quiet down Potter, or you'll be kicked out." Celina warned him. "It doesn't concern me…because I don't belong here." She stood to her feet and began packing her things away. She could feel a headache starting and wanted to find a place to lie down for a while.

"But what do you mean by that?"

"You seem to like puzzles Potter. If you're so curious, figure it out yourself." With that she left Potter and the library. Her small "spat" with Harry had drained her immensely for some reason. She was so tired, from what she wasn't sure.

"_Sleep."_ Valfar's voice whispered inside her head. _"My poor Celina. My poor Celina, sleep."_

Celina stopped walking immediately, her hand fisting in her hair.

"Hey…are you alright?" Two second year girls asked.

"Yeah…I'm fine." Celina managed, standing upright again. "Just had a sudden headache is all." She waved off the girls and continued down the hall.

"_Celina, I haven't held you in so long. Sleep for me Celina, sleep."_

She tried to hum to herself to keep from paying attention to his voice; it was to no avail.

"_Listen to me! Sleep!" _

Celina now leaned against a wall. She slumped to the floor, her eyelids heavy._ Just for a moment_, she told herself. _I'll close my eyes just for a moment._

"Celina!"

She felt someone grab her and try to lift her up.

"Get a hold of yourself."

Her eyes shot open. She looked up to her right to see… "Draco? What are you doing here?"

He's brows scrunched together. "What are **you **doing here? Slumped over on the ground…"

"I just wasn't feeling well for a moment…"

An awkward silence fell between the two. Neither had really forgotten the argument they got into nearly a week ago. "Um…do you want to go the hospital wing or…?" Draco finally asked.

"I'll be fine." She stood up on her own. "I just need some fresh air or something."

"I'll go with you…"

"No!" She shouted, surprising Draco and herself. "It's fine, you don't have to."

"I'm going, besides there's something we need to talk about." He took her hand and took the lead. "We should head down towards the lake or something."

"Yeah…sure…"

Celina, admittedly, was rather confused. She hadn't seen Draco act so…coolly in a while and to hold her hand in public…she couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking. Perhaps he wasn't thinking at all and just had more pressing things on his mind.

"Hey Draco…"

"What?"

She shook her head. "Never mind."

The halls they walked through to get the lake were quite occupied for a Sunday morning. It was probably because there was such nice weather today, and such wasn't usually expected around this time of year. The sun was shining very brightly. There wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Celina couldn't help but notice how different Draco looked from behind. He looked serious, strong as he took the lead. Maybe it was because she couldn't see his face or the tired bags beneath his eyes, but his grip on her hand was strong and firm. His hand was much larger than hers, cold to the touch. Had Draco always been this much taller than her?

The couple left the castle, the sun now directly shining down on them. Celina was overwhelmed with a flash of white and she couldn't see for a moment, but her feet kept moving forward. Draco was leading the way. Her eyes slowly readjusted the closer they got to a spot by the lake. Draco finally let go of her hand before sitting on the ground. To her surprise he didn't seem to mind getting dirt on his robes.

"God," he sighed. "I haven't been outside in a while." He leaned back until he was lying down.

Celina sat down beside him. "You…you're acting…different."

"I'm tired."

Not knowing what to say, Celina nodded, even though she knew Draco couldn't see her nodding.

"I've been thinking for the past week. I'm breaking our contract."

Celina blinked a couple times, not sure she heard him correctly. "You…you're what?"

"I'm breaking our contract." He repeated.

"I think I've told you before that you can't break the contract. It's magically binding and you should also know that it wasn't made with just my magic alone."

"I found a way to break it. I just need you to cooperate with me and I can break it in a snap."

Celina frowned. "I doubt you came up with how to break it by yourself."

"Doesn't matter where I came up with it. What matters is that I know how." He stretched a bit before sitting up again, looking out onto the lake.

"_He's not lying. He knows." _ Valafar whispered.

Celina shook her head. "It's impossible. You can't break it."

"The demon you've made a contract with…you said before he's become restless right?"

Celina nodded.

"And you said that the contract binding us together is made with his magic too?"

"That's right…"

"Then isn't it simple? We get the demon to break the contract for us." Draco concluded.

"But it's not that easy. He created it in the first place so…"

Draco shook his head and smirked. "But he didn't make it. We did. The contract binds you and I together, so the contract possesses mostly of wizard's magic. From what I heard, a demon should be able to break it easily. That is…if **you **let it of course."

Celina was speechless. Had he really looked into the contract this much? Draco simply sat there, waiting for her to say something with a smug look on his face. She made a face and shoved him over.

"Ouch! The bloody hell are you doing woman!" He yelled.

"Stop trying to act so cool. It's making me nauseous." She muttered.

Draco laughed. Genuinely, he laughed. It startled Celina for she had never heard it before. "I really should be doing this on my own, you know? If the Dark Lord finds out I told someone about this mission, then I'd be in trouble and so would you. So as soon as you can, get your demon to break the contract. You still have it right?"

She found herself smiling. "Of course I do. Will this be your final order, Master Malfoy?"

He gave her a shove. "Stop smiling like that." He got to his feet. "I'm glad I took a break like you told me many times before and…thanks for what you've done so far, but I can handle it from here on out."

Celina nodded. "I understand."

* * *

Celina stood in front of a door. It had appeared before after walking in front of an empty wall three times.

"_Are you really going to do this? Aren't you afraid?"_

"Of course," She muttered aloud, her hand on the doors handle. Taking a deep breath, she swung it open. It revealed an empty white room. In the middle of this room was a knife.

"_Can you really handle it? You've never done this before…I wonder if I'll be able to let you go?"_

"I wonder as well…but this his final order. You should be happy…"

Celina could practically see Valafar grin. "_I am."_


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I can't believe I was able to write another chapter so soon! Two uploads in one day! I feel proud of myself.**

**Okay...I now know for a fact that, with where the story is now, I will wrap up this mother fucker in the next two chapters!**

* * *

**Chapter Eighteen**

_A devil came,_

_The devil played,_

_The devil stole her blood today._

When Celina awoke, her entire body felt numb. In fact, she wasn't even sure she was inside her own body, but sure enough she was able to move her fingers ever so slightly when she chose to flex them. Sighing with relief, she proceeded to sit up with much pain. She looked around and realized she was in a white room with only one door as the exit. She looked down and noticed all the blood on the floor. It was hers.

It was only then that she realized she was naked. All over her body were scars and gashes. Her own blood had dried and was smeared across her skin. She was surprised she wasn't dead. She was surprised she was alone.

_I need a bath, _she thought to herself. There was a strange sound and a bathtub appeared before her. The water within the porcelain tube was steaming.

It was then that Celina realized where she was, the Room of Requirement; however, for some obscure reason, she couldn't remember why she was there in the first place. Where was Draco?

Shaking her head, she decided she could find out the reason why later. Right now, all she really wanted was to wash the blood of her body. With great effort, she managed to stand beside the tub. One leg followed the other as she sank slowly into the hot water. Inch by inch she hissed, her body trying to adjust to the heat. Once complete in the tub, she could feel her muscles unwind. Her entire body relaxed. It begged her to question: what the hell happened?

She contemplated on whether to ask Valafar. Valafar was always watching her, so Valafar must have known. She sat there a few moments, before finally asking, "Valafar, what happened to me?"

Silence.

Celina frowned. Valafar would usually jump to the occasion to answer her, to speak to her. "Valafar!" She slapped the water, thinking it'd get his attention. "Valafar! I know you're watching! What happened to me!"

"_Ke ke ke, hearing you cry out for me…it's sends shivers of pleasure down my spine!" _The demon laughed.

Celina spun her head around to see if he was in the room with her, if this was only a dream. To her relief the room remained white; no darkness seeped in from anywhere. "What happened to me Valafar?" She repeated herself.

"_You don't remember? This saddens me. Tell me, do you remember the human boy? The Malfoy?"_

"Yes. Of course, why wouldn't I?"

"_Che, and yet you forget time you spend with me." _Valafar spat with annoyance. _"Why don't you leave this room and find out?"_

"I shouldn't have to. You already know, so tell me!" She shouted, before she could filter herself. Her fingers gripped the rim of the bathtub in wait, in fear.

"_**You should be thankful that I love you so…or otherwise you'd be punished right now. Have you forgotten who your master is?"**_Valafar's voice thundered throughout the room.

A black misty fog began to seep into the room through cracks she couldn't see.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She pleaded.

"_Of course, in with the state you're in, punishing you may very well end up killing you and we can't have that, can we?" _Valafar's voice became calmer and the black mist disappeared. _"Now look, you've made me frighten you. Don't be scared. I will tell you what happened three nights ago."_

"Three nights!"

"_Do not interrupt me Celina," _He warned her, before continuing. _"Three nights ago you entered this room and you summoned me by yourself. I asked you if you would be able to handle it a few times before you actually summoned me. After summoning me, you withdrew your contract with the human boy Draco Malfoy and asked me to destroy. However, if you want one thing, you must exchange another and so I took your blood, as much as I needed to break the contract. I'm surprised I didn't kill you…It would have been terrible if I did…"_

"My contract?" She looked down at the back of her right hand, sure enough the pentagram was gone. She remembered now. Breaking the contract was the last order Draco gave her so that he could accomplish his assassination mission on his own. She could remember why she came her, but she can't remember what happened.

As though reading her mind, which he basically did, Valafar spoke. _"It is better that you don't remember. You weren't yourself at all. Breaking a contract is not an easy process; you were shouting all sorts of obscenities at me and even your shouts of pain were too much for me to bear at some point." _She heard him sigh. It was a rare thing to hear. _"I can't wait until you die."_

For once, she decided to trust in Valafar's words and finished up her bath. She needed a towel and a change of clothes. They appeared in an instant. This begged another question.

"Valafar…what happened to my clothes? Valfar?"

He didn't answer her, and she had the feeling that he wasn't going to answer her. Accepting his silence, she got out of the tub, dried herself off and put on the skirt and shirt that showed up for her. Half of her was wondering how the hell she was going to walk all the way back to her room, but the other half knew that she'd probably have to go see Professor McGonagall or Dumbledore first. She was missing for three days or four days now. Celina couldn't help but wonder how she would be punished, if she were to be punished at all. She snorted to herself. Of course she was going to be punished. There's no way she won't be.

She walked through the door and began to head towards Dumbledore's office, since it seemed that classes were still in session. The halls were empty, much to her relief. She walked alongside the walls, just in case she was still a bit too weak to be moving about on her own. It wasn't until she got near the Great Hall did she felt something trickle down her legs.

Blood.

For a moment she panicked, thinking it was her "time of the month", but realized that the blood came from a wound along her inner thigh. She also realized that her skirt did not cover all the wounds on her legs and the shirt she wore did not completely cover her arms. Worried that she'd bump into someone, she decided it'd be best to go to her room to get a robe that would cover everything or at least go back to the Room of Requirement. However, before Celina could even turn around, the school bells chimed off, signaling the end of classes for the day.

Celina's heart dropped and she made a run for it. For where exactly…she had no idea. Perhaps a hall that was hopefully secluded, but as soon as she turned the corner she bumped into someone. Not expecting the sudden impact, Celina fell to the ground.

"Miss Elvira," said the person she bumped into.

To Celina's horror, she looked up to see none other than Professor Snape.

Snape could see the evident terror on his face and the corners of his lips pulled up into a smirk. "Judging by that look on your face, you were, no doubt, up to no good during your 4 day absence from classes…"

"I…"

"Silence." His single word cut her down. Celina swallowed any excuse she had prepared to come out of her mouth.

By this time the hall had begun to fill up with other students. They surrounded both Celina and Snape, wondering what was going on. Many whispered amongst each other and many gasped in shock, for Celina Elvira had abruptly gone missing 4 days prior. The castle and its grounds were searched and she was nowhere to be found, but there she was on the ground, with cuts all over her arms and legs.

"Get up." Snape ordered. "You are coming with me to see the Headmaster. You there…Creevey, go inform Professor McGonagall that we have found Miss Elvira." The blond Gryffindor jumped, a bit startled that Snape had spoken to him, and hurried off to find Professor McGonagall.

When she stood up, Celina noticed that her leg had not ceased bleeding and there was now a pool of blood at her feet. This caused more whispers to erupt throughout the crowd. "Quiet all of you!" Snape silenced the crowd. He grabbed Celina by an arm and began to pull her away to see Dumbledore.

Once arriving at the office, Celina saw that McGonagall was already there and Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk.

"There you are Miss Elvira! Are you alright! You nearly gave us all a fright disappearing like that, with the incidents with Miss Bell and Mr. Weasley…" McGonagall started.

"I think we should first hear what Miss Elvira has to say, before we assume she is the victim in this situation, McGonagall." Snape said.

"What? Is that why you brought her here? She's clearly wounded. Look at the blood! It's practically pouring down the pour girl's leg!" McGonagall said.

"Enough Minerva, before taking Miss Elvira to the Hospital Wing, I think we can at least ask her where she was the last few days, if she remembers of course…" Dumbledore said.

"I…I was in the Room of Requirement. I went there on my own, because there was something I wanted to do." Celina admitted stiffly.

"What? What in heaven's name could you have been doing for four days?" McGonagall asked a bit taken aback. Snape, however, had a look of slight satisfaction on his face.

"I…don't want to talk about it. If I tell anyone, I'm going to tell Dumbledore alone." Celina said stubbornly.

Snape opened his mouth to say something, but Dumbledore held up his hand to silence him. "Miss Elvira, I understand, but I cannot allow that. You have gone missing for four days and your disappearance has put in question the safety of this school. I, as well as the faculty, must hear what it was that caused you to come to your current injured state." He concluded. "Please share with us, and then you may sent to the hospital wing."

She sighed, knowing there would be no way she could win. "I…I went to the Room of Requirement so that I could summon a demon."

McGonagall gasped. Snape still had a slight smirk on his face. Dumbledore's facial expression seemed to remain unchanging. "And I'm assuming you were successful?"

"Yes…but I guess you could say…things didn't go as planned. I can barely even remember how I summoned him." She said calmly.

McGonagall couldn't keep quiet any longer. "Listen to this girl Dumbledore! Has she gone mad?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "I am sure that you have heard the…mysterious rumors regarding the Elvira family. I believe Miss Elvira's story. Please realize Miss Elvira that dark magic on school grounds is forbidden and you must be punished accordingly."

"I understand sir."

"Once Madame Pomfrey deems you healthy enough to leave the Hospital Wing, I'm afraid you will have to leave the school as well."

"Yes sir."

"Minerva, please escort Miss Elvira to the Hospital Wing. Tell Madame Pomfrey that she is to have no visitors except that of faculty, absolutely no visitors. Severus, if you could stay behind for a moment, there is something I must discuss with you."

Both McGonagall and Snape nodded.

"Let's go, Miss Elvira," McGonagall said stiffly.

Celina followed without resistance.

Apparently news had spread fast that Celina Elvira had been found near the Great Hall after classes, by none other than Professor Snape. There was a crazy rumor buzzing around that Snape attacked Elvira, while others thought the rumor to be absolutely ridiculous. While Celina was in the Hospital Wing, many people had tried to get a look at her. Of course, that would be rather hard to do, since her bed was surrounded by a white curtain. The crowd died out around dinner time though, but Celina nearly jumped when she heard a loud voice demanding Madame Pomfrey to let him in.

The voice belonged to Draco Malfoy.

Celina couldn't help but smile.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

Much to Celina's surprise she only spent about three days cooped up in the Hospital Wing. Since entering the Wing, she saw absolutely nobody. The only person allowed to see her was Madame Pomfrey herself. The three days passed by incredibly sluggishly. Her only view was that of the ceiling or the white curtains that surrounded her.

On the third day, the day of her release, it was well past noon, almost early evening. The white curtains were finally drawn back and Celina was allowed to leave the Wing. Professor McGonagall was there waiting for her, a stern look on her face. Celina could tell there McGonagall wanted to say something, but couldn't really find the words to say it.

"Professor," Celina said with a nod.

"Miss Elvira, Professor Dumbledore and the rest of faculty have conferenced about your situation and have decided to hereby expel you from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. I would like you to return to your dormitory and pack your things. After, you must go directly to the front gates. The Ministry has been notified of your conduct and you are to be put on trial at a specified date. Meanwhile, you will be placed under house arrest. We have confiscated your wand, but whether or not it is to be broken will be decided on the day of your trial. I hope you realize the grave seriousness of your actions Miss Elvira. Associating yourself with such dark magic and not giving a reason for your actions during these dark times…you are lucky that nobody was hurt or killed." She chided, and then muttered. "What disgrace to befall the house of Gryffindor…"

Celina couldn't help but grin. "Actually, I feel that I've lived up to the Gryffindor name…or as much as I could at the very least." With that final note, she left the Hospital Wing.

As she walked through the halls and towards Gryffindor Tower, Celina noticed the setting sun outside. The sky was a mix of purple, red, orange, pink, many colors blending together into one.

It was about dinner time. Several other students were heading down to the Great Hall. Celina wasn't surprised that many avoided her. No one greeted her. No one asked if she was okay. Most of them looked avoided eye contact with her. Celina sighed. She was no longer surprised about how quickly news could travel through Hogwarts.

Celina had just turned about a corner, leading to the moving staircases, where she chanced to bump into Hermione Granger.

"Excuse me," She said, trying to move past her without having a confrontation.

However, Hermione, being Hermione, stopped Celina. "As a prefect I think I'm inclined to know where it is you're going."

"To the dormitories…" Celina answered, pointing up.

"You've been expelled there shouldn't be a reason for you to…"

"Excuse me Granger, but McGonagall told me to go pack my things and then go down to the Front Gate. I literally just got out of the Hospital Wing…"

"So it's true then?" Hermione asked a bit taken aback. "About…you using dark magic."

"Obviously or I wouldn't be going upstairs to pack my things, would I?" Celina crossed her arms. "Tell me, did the faculty tell you exactly what I did?"

"No…it's a rumor really, most of Slytherin seemed to know about it first. I can't believe it's true."

Celina laughed. "Do my ears deceive me? I doubt you're that surprised." She made way to move around Hermione, but she was stopped.

"Hold on. So if you really did use dark magic…then does that mean you and Malfoy…"

"Malfoy had absolutely nothing to do with it. It was my own decision to do what I did. If Draco dearest was involved…I'd much rather drag him down with me." Celina pushed past Hermione, but Hermione apparently had more to say on the matter. It wasn't surprising really. Hermione Granger usually always had something more to say.

"Your hand, the pentagram is gone."

Celina stopped and looked down at her right hand. "You're right. Would ya look at that?" She smirked a bit before giving a small wave. "I'm not going to lie. I really hope we don't meet again."

As Celina continued her climb up to the Gryffindor Tower, she was glad to see that there weren't much people the higher and higher she went. She was almost there until she was stopped again. This time by a shriek. She lingered on the 6th floor, waiting to see if it was her imagination. She was about to leave, when she heard someone shouting, "MURDER! MURDER!"

Without hesitation, Celina found herself running towards the shouting. The shouting seemed to come from the boy's bathroom.

"MURDER IN THE BATHROOM! MURDER! MURDER!"

She could hear the shouting, but Celina wasn't sure if it'd be the best idea to go in. She didn't have a wand after all. Who was it on the other side of the door?

"Step aside Elvira!" Snarled someone behind her.

Celina jumped and turned to see Professor Snape. He banged open the bathroom door without hesitation and went inside. Celina waited a few moments, before peeking through the door herself.

Blood.

Blood seemed to be everywhere. On the floor was Harry Potter, shaking slightly. Snape was crouched over someone else. She couldn't see who from where she stood. However, Snape eventually helped the person to stand up. Celina gasped quietly when she realized that it was Draco.

"You need the hospital wing." Snape spoke to Draco. "There may be a certain amount of scarring, but if you take dittany immediately we might avoid even that….Come…."

The two of them began to walk out of the bathroom, before Snape spat back at Harry. "And you, Potter…You wait here for me."

Celina held the door open for the two, avoiding eye contact with Snape, but he addressed her as well. "You as well Elvira."

She nodded and looked into the bathroom. Harry seemed rather speechless, terrified even. He stood up slowly, his entire body shaking. Celina thought twice about going in the bathroom or speaking to Harry. She decided it'd probably be best to wait for Snape to return.

Snape came back about ten minutes later. He turned to Celina first. "What on Earth were you doing here?" He asked.

"I heard a shriek or something so I stopped on this floor. Then I heard someone shouting about a murder and it led me to the bathroom. My wand was confiscated, so I wasn't sure if it'd be a good idea to go inside or not, but then you came along…"

"And haven't you been expelled for **your **use of dark magic? What are you still doing in the castle?" Snape asked.

"McGonagall sent me to pack my things." Celina explained.

"Then go pack your things." Said Snape. "And you," he looked at the ghost who was there to witness it all. "Get out."

Celina didn't need telling twice. She quickly fled the scene, not to her dormitories, but to the Hospital Wing.

When she arrived, Madame Pomfrey was a bit surprised. "What are you doing back here?" She asked.

"I wanted to see Draco to see if he's alright. I know he just got here, but please…"

Madame Pomfrey looked a bit grim, but gave in to Celina's plea. "You have five minutes. He's lost quite a bit of blood and only just fell asleep, so please don't wake him."

"Thank you so much!"

Celina rushed forward and pulled back the white curtains surrounding Draco. He really was asleep. She had never seen him so calm before. Her hand reached out, her fingers brushing some hair away from his forehead. His eyes fluttered open.

"Hmph…Celina…?"

"Shh…" She whispered. "I'm not supposed to wake you."

"You…I thought you were expelled."

"I am, but I ran into you and Potter's little…incident. I wanted to come see if you were alright first before leaving."

"How did they find out you were using dark magic?" Draco had to ask.

"Snape caught me leaving the Room of Requirement. I had cuts and wounds all over my body and I was bleeding on the floor. Since I was missing for four days, I knew I'd have to tell Dumbledore where I'd been. They may have found out the truth eventually after investigating my disappearance further…"

Draco found he couldn't figure out what else to say.

"It's not your fault and don't feel bad. I was never meant to go to this school anyways. Even if they take away my wand, I'll find a way to get another one." She opened the curtains again, ready to leave. "I should get going. Do your best Draco."

"Wait. Celina I…" His voice trailed off.

She smiled. "You're going to be fine Draco."

"What did I tell you Miss Elvira?" scolded Madame Pomfrey. "You got to see him, now shoo."

Celina gave a small wave to Draco before departing.

At least she got to see him one more time before she left.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty**

It took at least a month for the papers for her trial to be verified.

She was found guilty.

Her wand was snapped in two.

Her home raided of almost all items.

The only good to come of this was the fact that she was placed under house arrest. The Ministry feared that if she were to be placed in Azkaban, she would be freed by You-Know-Who and asked to join him.

All in all Celina Elvira's life went back to normal. All day she stayed inside her house, just as she did before, but this time she had no customers. Aurors were sent to guard the house. They switched shifts every eight hours. She often watched them from her bedroom window on the second floor.

Valafar was more than pleased with the outcome of events. In fact he had become more active as of late. He was excited, very excited. Celina knew that something would happen soon.

It was a humid summer evening when a knock came to her door. Not once had the aurors outside knock on her door. She peered outside her bedroom window only to see that the aurors were nowhere in her sight. The knock came again.

_Do not answer the door. _Valafar warned her. _Go into your bathroom and hid in your bathtub._

"Who is there?" She whispered.

_Do as I tell you._ He ordered and she obeyed.

Celina felt very silly, sitting huddled in the bathtub; however, she sat very still, listening for more knocks on her door. None came. Instead she faintly heard the door creak open and footsteps. Somebody has entered her house.

The sound of toppling furniture echoed throughout her home. Somebody was looking for something, or perhaps looking for her. She could someone speak, giving order to another person. Exactly how many people were in her house? This question didn't dwell in Celina's thoughts for long. The bathroom door had opened. Celina could see a figure's shadow from behind the shower curtain.

_Stay where you are. Make not a sound. _Valafar whispered in her mind's ear.

Celina watched the figure's shadow come closer and closer, until he drew back the curtain. It was none other than Severus Snape. What Snape was doing in her house was beyond her. In fact it left her stunned. He seemed to examine the tub closely, before turning to leave the room. Celina could only assume that it was Valafar's magic that kept her hidden. As Snape left, Celina assumed that she was in the clear, until she chanced to see who it was that came to her house with Professor Snape. He stood outside in the hall.

"Draco." She whispered aloud, before she could stop herself.

Valafar's charm broke and Snape turned his greasy head. "I'm impressed Miss Celina that you can use magic even without your wand…"

Celina paid no mind to Snape's words, instead her eyes were only on Draco. She knew, from the sorry look in his eye, that it was he who led Snape to her home. "Celina…" Draco's voice barely croaked out.

Snape raised his wand before her and muttered. "_Stupefy."_

* * *

When Celina woke, she found herself in some sort of dungeon. Her back was a bit sore as she sat up. "Valafar" she whispered. "Where am I?"

Valafar didn't answer her.

"What is to happen to me?" She asked this time.

He remained silent, but the door to the dungeon opened. Draco was on the other side. Celina frowned. "What are you doing here, Draco?"

He couldn't bring himself to look up at her. "I'm supposed to take you out."

"And take me where?" She asked.

"To see the Dark Lord." He said, his voice barely higher than a whisper. He was ashamed and yet Draco did not go against the Dark Lord's wishes. Celina couldn't really blame him, but she couldn't really forgive him for this either.

"If you're going to take me, take me." She said bluntly.

Draco flinched, but motioned her to walk ahead of him and his wand. Before she began to ascend the stairs, he stopped her. "Celina I'm sorry! But if I don't…"

Celina shook her head. "It's fine. I'm more disappointed what I read in the Daily Prophet regarding the death of Albus Dumbledore."

He began shaking his head. "I had him. I had him, but I just…"

"Don't worry about it anymore. I'm happy to see that You-Know-Who didn't see it as a reason to kill you."

"Celina, if I could…"

This time Celina shook her head. "It's fine." She repeated. "I understand." She now took his hand in hers. "Now where are we going?"

"Up the hall, second door on the left." He said, lowering his wand.

Draco couldn't understand it. How could she stay so calm and collected in such a situation? How could she remain so brave? Perhaps this was the Gryffindor side of her; a side he just realized had always been there. She feared nothing, besides Valafar, and she remained loyal and true to Draco up until the day she was expelled.

They reached the door, behind which was Voldemort. Draco unconsciously tightened his grip on her hand. "It's time to let go Draco." She said, startling him. He listened to her regardless. "Whatever happens behind these doors, please don't feel guilty; it won't be your fault."

Draco frowned. "You make it sound like you're going to die…"

"I can't deny it's a possibility."

"But you're pureblood," Draco said quickly. "If you agree to help the Dark Lord then…" He trailed off when he noticed her smiling up at him sadly. "Whatever happens," She repeated. "I will always be thankful that I met you." Celina went on her tip toes to kiss his cheek, before opening the door.

She stood outside the door, until she was told to go in. "Don't simply stand there," said a cold voice. Slowly she entered the dimly lit room. The room itself seemed to be a sort of dining room. A few several people sat around the table and at the head sat Lord Voldemort. Even in the dim lighting, she could tell that his skin was vastly pale and his eyes were inhuman. "Welcome, everyone, our honored guest. young Draco brings us the young Celina Elvira."

A few of the people there whispered to one another at this. Celina said not a word; instead she held her head high, boldly, like any pureblood would.

"You are quite a beauty, like your mother and grandmother before you." He commented.

"You have met my mother and grandmother?" Celina asked.

"Yes, they even helped me in the past and now I wish for you to join me as well."

"Become a death eater?" She said more as a statement than as a question.

Lord Voldemort grinned. "Yes, your grandmother had proven most helpful to me when I went to her for help. As her granddaughter, you should also possess the same magical abilities."

To his surprise, Celina grinned. "To become a death eater would mean that you would become my 'master' and a master I already have."

The grin was wiped from Voldemort's face. "I would hate to spill your blood when it is so pure."

"My master will not allow me to take another master." Celina said calmly.

"And who is this master of whom you speak?" Voldemort spat. "Someone more fearful than I? Surely you do not mean Draco?" A few of the people at the table laughed at this. Celina remained as cool and stoic as ever.

"No." She said, not at all surprised that Voldemort had learned of the contract between her and Draco. "My master is more powerful than you can ever dream of being."

"I do not wish to harm you yet, Miss Elvira…" Voldemort warned.

"And I do not wish to anger you, but this is the truth. My master tells me that if you wish, you may bargain with my master yourself."

"He speaks to you now?"

"He is always with me." She said.

Her words reminded him of the pathetic man named Quirrell, with whom he had shared a body with a few years ago. Could this girl's master possibly be in the same state of being? It seemed impossible, since the girl obviously had a head full of hair, but Voldemort was interested in the power this "master" of Celina's could possibly possess. "Then call for him."

Celina smirked slightly. "Are you sure? He now tells me to warn you first. My master is a demon, seated in the ranks of hell."

Voldemort laughed coldly at this, as did everyone else, except Snape and Draco. "A demon? Do you mean to summon a demon?"

"Do not laugh at old magic. It can be done."

"Show me," he hissed.

"I require a knife."

_Thunk._

A knife appeared on the wooden table before her. She got atop the table and walked to the middle of it. With the knife she stabbed her right hand and drew an inverted pentagram, with intricate symbols in the spaces. Celina then sat in the middle of the pentagram. She closed her eyes and began to speak in a language that none at the table could comprehend. The pentagram on the table began to glow red, as the furniture and accessories in the room began to shake. From behind her, there grew a dark shadow, reaching almost the ceiling. It spoke directly to Voldemort.

"_Celina is mine. She has no other master and will have no other master."_

"And what would I have to do to change your mind?" Voldemort asked, unalarmed.

"_You tell me."_

"I have, in a sense, conquered all aspects of the wizarding world. Gold, power, human souls…" He began to list, but Valafar was not pleased.

"_Is that all you can offer? None of it compares to what Celina's soul is worth. I have waited for her for centuries; I will not hand her over."_

Valafar could not leave the summoning circle, but his shadows spread throughout the room, starting small fires. The flames filled the room with a dark red light. Death eaters started scrambling, trying to put them out and among the chaos a green light flashed. Celina fell across the table, very much dead.

* * *

For Celina, her death happened faster than she could blink. She felt absolutely nothing, no pain whatsoever. It was like she simply fell asleep. When she opened her eyes, she was surrounded by darkness. This time she was no longer afraid of it or of whoever lurked within it.

In the distance there was a faint red light. She could feel its heat from where she stood.

It was the first time she'd seen such a light, but she did not fear it or whatever it may lead to.

"_Come to me at last, my sweet Celina."_

She recognized this voice and began to walk towards the red light.

She was not afraid for in her heart she held the memory of Draco Malfoy.


End file.
